Fallen Butterfly
by Summoner Yuna FFX
Summary: This story links off the episode Butterflied. Sara is working another case, all the while trying to maintain her falling friendship with Grissom. This case is just as twisted and dangerous as she could have guessed, as a murderer returns, for her...GSR
1. Blood Trail

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter One- Blood Trail**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the CSI characters, creations, or anything else. It is entirely owned by CBS.

Sara groaned as she turned over in her bed, the sheets slithering off her body. She shivered as the cold bit into her skin. Glancing over at her digital clock, she sighed as she pushed herself out of bed. Shift would be starting soon, and Sara was not one known to be late. Last case was rough even if it wasn't hers; a multiple looking Sara Sidle had been found lying on her bathroom floor, her throat slashed. Debbie Marlin (the victim) _had _been murdered, by her ex-boyfriend Vincent Lurie. Everybody in the team knew it, but there was too little evidence to point that out. So in the end he had walked free. Walked free, into the world without justice! The thought of it made Sara's blood boil. Yet, she remembered her co-worker Gil Grissom's words as he had confronted Lurie in the interrogation room. The words which he should have spoken to her instead of a complete stranger.

Sara knew that the case had taken its toll on him, heck it had taken effect on everyone who had worked it. But she was angry with Grissom. Just because Debbie had given Lurie a good life, then taken it away to give it to someone else, didn't mean she would to! Why couldn't he see that! She really wanted nothing to do with Grissom at the moment, she felt sick and tired of his pathetic excuses. She debated all these questions in her head over and over as she quickly had a shower and changed into her sensible office clothes. Just as she stepped into the kitchen her cell rang.

Groaning as she read who it was,_ Catherine Willows_

Sighing she flipped open the cell, "Yeah."

"Sara!?" Catherine exclaimed.

Sara held the phone a centimeter away from her ear. She could have sworn the speaker button was automatically pushed whenever Catherine called, "Yeah, what's up?"

"Where the hell are you?" she asked furiously, "We got a DB out in the middle of nowhere, and Grissom gave me you."

"Gee, thanks."

Catherine sighed, "That's not what I meant, Grissom's got all the boys tonight. Apparently they're all on some big case; a whole family was murdered in the middle of the night, really gory."

"Why couldn't we _all_ work that case?"

"I know. But he gives us the DB out in the mountains, when the temperature is absolutely freezing" Catherine shivered into the phone, "Tell ya the truth, this is really bizarre."

"What's bizarre? The victim, location-"

"Sort of, but I was aiming at the weather" Catherine said, "Normally it's really warm out here, but It feels like the temperature is dropping every hour. Make sure you bring a good jacket with you."

Sara smiled slightly, yanking up her thick black jacket which was slung over a chair on her way out. Opening her door, she turned back to her conversation with Catherine once more "Alright I'll be there as soon as-"

As soon as she found out why blood was lining the corridor outside her apartment. Sara stood there, mouth forming the last of her sentence, without any noise escaping. The scene around her, adjusting to her groggy brain speed. There was blood…lots of it. It spattered the walls, and most importantly the floor. Soaking through the timber boards.

"As soon as what?" came Catherine's curious comment.

"Uh…I'm gonna have to call you back" Sara said. And without waiting for a reply, she hung up slipping her phone into her pocket and drawing her gun. She knew she should call the police, but she was curious to see, and a little shaken she had never seen so much blood in one room except the morgue. Proceeding down the hall way, she cautiously followed the blood trail. It wasn't hard to guess where it lead, even without the trail guiding her. A door further down the hallway was swinging on its hinges, as Sara approached it bizarrely opened further, as if a gust of wind had hit it backward. Sara peered into the room beyond.

A man in his middle twenties lay on his stomach, thrown over the bed. There was a gigantic hole in his back; Sara couldn't think of a weapon capable of that much damage. Half of his scalp was removed in the same fashion. The smell in the room was disgusting; he would have had to have been dead for at least a day.

'_But wouldn't I have noticed all that blood when I went home earlier?" _Sara thought. But she shook her head as she realized he might not have been killed here. Judging by all the blood in the hallway, he was dragged to this location, Sara looked on disgusted. The things humans could do to each other was horrifying. She was distracted as her mobile rang once more.

"Sidle" she answered. She winced as she heard _his _voice.

"Sara I got a phone call from Catherine" Grissom began angrily, "First you're late, then you just hang up on her for some mysterious reason. Will you please get down there with her before she talks my ear off! And anyway why did you hang up? You know Cath Sara and she-"

"Grissom!" Sara said sharply. She really didn't want to talk to him at the moment, his voice sent shivered down her spine, anxious shivers. And she knew he didn't want to talk with her right now either, this was just business. Quickly trying to get off the phone she opened her mouth and explained, "Forget that, I just found a dead guy next to my apartment block. You better send one of the guys over here."

* * *

"God" Catherine complained, as Sara got out of the Tahoe, "What took you so long? I've already gathered pretty much everything."

"Sorry" Sara shivered, "I found a DB in my apartment block…"

"Oh, you okay?" Cath muttered as Sara nodded, "Well…why didn't you take it?"

"Grissom did, I think he prefers the solo thing" Sara lied, clenching her jaw as she said Grissom's name. She would rather just forget about him right now and focus on the task at hand. But she didn't want Catherine to think anything was wrong. She knew Grissom came to the scene because he didn't want to associate with anyone right at the moment, but he wouldn't let her work it with him, refusing and saying Catherine would be mad that she didn't have any help. Sara knew this was only partly true as his eyes never caught hers when he had explained this. He was deliberately avoiding her, this just made her angrier.

Catherine cooked one eyebrow suspicious at Sara's behavior when she said Grissom's name "Well, that's for sure. Anyway DB has been taken away, but I did find an identity on her."

Catherine held up a driver's license for Sara to see, "Her name is Debra Fellons, age 25. She was found over there" Catherine pointed to a small glitch further off the road, "Her throat slit and neck twisted."

Sara looked at the picture of Debra Fellons; the woman had chocolate brown hair and golden hazel eyes. She sighed, this woman had so much to live for, it wasn't fair for someone to just come and take that all away. Gritting her teeth she shoved the fresh wave of emotions which flew at her, kept a straight face and turned back to Catherine.

"What else did you find?"

"Tracks" the blonde answered pointing with her flashlight to a spot a few meters away. There were faint indentions in the mud there, which were very light, "It looks like some sort of sports car. They're usually the ones which leave little trace, and have that sort of pattern to them. I also pulled a hair off the vic, luck for us there's DNA on it to. How many gingers you know?"

She held up a bag, which had a short orange hair in it. Catherine tucked it away into the suitcase again, along with the rest of the evidence and beckoned Sara to follow. Sara nodded and the two of them set off searching the surrounding area for anything else. Twenty minutes later, Sara smiled as she came across a tiny glint reflecting off her flashlight. Squatting down as she plucked up a chipped tooth from the mud with her tweezers.

"Cath!" Sara called.

"Yeah" Catherine said rushing to her side.

"How many people you know who have bits of their teeth falling from their mouth?"

* * *

**TBC…**

**A/N: Next chapter will be up soon, the plot thickens. This is my first CSI fic, so if I get anything wrong bear with me I will get the hang of it. Review and tell me what you think!**

**Sarah**


	2. Haven't Really Lived At All

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Two-Haven't Really Lived At All **

Nick walked into the break room, case file in his hands. He smiled as he saw Sara sitting at the table, examining photos from her case, a frustrated look on her face.

"You okay Sar?" he asked.

She glanced up, surprised to see another occupant of the room, "Yeah, I'm just going over this, and if trace… or should I say Greg… hurries the hell up, some things might be cleared up for me!"

Nick sustained his grin, "Well, Warrick and I have our case in the slam dunk. Found a suspect at the scene, covered in the families' blood might I add. Claiming he only went in there to try and 'resuscitate' the seven individual, dead bodies of the Cullen family."

"Well, he might have panicked when he saw all the blood after the murder took place" Sara offered, "He could have tried to have done something, you know try to save them but ended up with all the vic's blood on him?"

Nick pulled a sour face while pouring his coffee "_All _of the victim's blood on him? We're taking about _seven _people Sara. The only reason this case is big, is because the murdered family own one of the big casino's in Vegas, the father is high up there with the mobs and stuff. Might I add this suspect _was_ his secretary. And that is called motive."

"Well it looks like you've got yourself all worked out" Sara said, staring gloomily at the photos on the desk. Nick leaned over the table, coffee in hand. He saw the bloodied photos of Debra Fellons and glanced at Sara.

"You know, I think she looks a bit like you" he said.

"You know, I think you have poor eye sight" Sara said, "The only resemblances we share are the hair, nothing else. And in these photos that's all you can see! What's taking trace so long!"

Nick grinned again, "Probably our evidence. You should have seen the look on Greg's face when Warrick and I turned up with all those blood samples. He nearly killed us, its probably taking him forever."

"Well, he's lucky Catherine's with the Doc examining the body, or else she'd be hovering over his back nagging his conscience to death!" Sara snorted, as a mental image of Catherine hitting Greg over the head for not being quick enough was summoned. They sat there like that for another ten minutes; chatting and joking until Warrick came striding into the room.

"Nick! DNA traces back to the secretary, which means he was holding that gun! GSR was all over his hands! We got him man, we got our killer!" Warrick said victoriously, "Hey Sara" he added spotting his friend.

Nick glanced at Sara smugly, "Well Miss. Sidle we will see you later. I think I fell like arresting somebody, come on Warrick lets go."

Sara couldn't help but smile as she watched the two of them practically skipping down the hallway like a bunch of school girls. Her smile faded however as the doorway was obscured by another man, Grissom. She glanced back down at the photos, trying to ignore his presence as he moved into the room to get his water from the fridge. She could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head as he reached the fridge, and the tension in the room suddenly hitting boiling point. Opening the fridge he quickly retrieved the bottle, and scooted out of the room before Sara could even glance up. She contemplated this in her head, trying to force the anger and loneliness back down into the numb section of her brain. Why did he do this to her all the time?

Sara forced everything out of her head, closed her eyes and tried to calm her mind. But nothing was working; Grissom's latest retreat left her stunned. The minutes passed, until she thought she couldn't stand it. Deciding she would storm over to the lab and demand the results from Greg, she was just shoving the chair aside when Catherine and Grissom entered the room, startling Sara.

"Sara, where you going?" Catherine asked, waving the case file in her hand.

"I was just going to see if Greg was finished with the results" she answered, trying to ignore Grissom's fleeting glance.

"Don't worry about it" the blonde said, sitting down at the table, "I just got them."

Catherine could see the glare Sara was giving Grissom, and she could see her boss looking anywhere but at the beautiful brunette. So, she decided something must be up.

'_Not again!' _Catherine thought hopelessly, _'Why do they always do this!?'_

Deciding the best thing to do was to quickly go through their information to relieve the tension, Catherine begun to speak, "Well, listen up Sara because this could get a little complicated."

Sara nodded, giving Catherine her full attention and sitting in the chair opposite her friend.

"Okay" her co-worker continued, "The autotpsy performed on Debra confirmed that she was killed with that severe cut to the neck. We also found bruising, but nothing else evident."

Sara nodded.

"The DNA from the hair and chipped tooth we found traces back to a man, uh..." Catherine pulled out a photo from the file and handed it to Sara, "To a 'Evan Brooks', he currently works as a doctor at a hospital-"

"Wait" Sara cut, "Did he have any relationship to the vic?"

"I was just getting to that" Catherine said patiently, "Debra Fellons worked as a nurse in the same hospital Evan Brooks did, she was his co-worker. So I rang up the hospital and talked with the head doctor and he said Mr. Brooks and Miss. Fellons had a very close relationship, they even lived together."

Sara nodded once more, "So where's the motive in that?"

Catherine smiled, "Well, that's where another man comes in."

"She was cheating on him?" Sara frowned, Grissom cleared his throat. Unwillingly she glanced up at him, "So why's he here?" she asked Catherine.

Before Catherine could answer Grissom beat her to it, "_He _has a name. And I am now working the case with you and Catherine."

Sara's heart sank a little; she really didn't want to face him anytime soon. Working with him would just make things a lot harder, "Why?" she asked a little too coldly.

Grissom's face went blank, "Remember the man you found in your apartment block?"

Sara nodded, "Well his name is 'Eric Stovens' and he worked at the same hospital Debra and Evan did" Grissom continued, "As a nurse."

"And Debra had an affair on Evan, which is where Eric comes in" Catherine said.

Sara nodded taking all this new information in, "So basically, we have a boyfriend and girlfriend dead and her dumped ex still out there. And what's well, they all worked with each other. That certainly screams motive."

"That's what I was thinking" Catherine said, "But it doesn't end there" she looked over to Grissom.

Grissom was pacing the room, his eyes on the floor, "When the doc finally did the autopsy on Eric Stovens, we found he died around 2 days ago. We also found trace amounts of a common poison in his system. The doc has yet to identify the substance, but he told me the poison was working on a long term basis meaning it could have been in his system for the past couple of weeks. But that wasn't what killed him."

"So where are you going with this?" asked Sara.

"Common poisons sometimes can be found in certain places in hospitals" Grissom continued, "And are only accessible to high potential doctors. Mr. Brooks was one of those doctors, so we can safely assume he had access to the poison, we just have to find out which one it was."

"And with Eric Stovens as a new recruit to the hospital, working alongside Debra Fellons the story fits together" Catherine explained, "Eric and Debra had a secret relationship together and when Mr. Brooks found out, well…"

The three of them glanced at each other, "Anyway" Catherine said "We called Brass and he's bringing in Evan Brooks for interrogation, want to come?"

Sara shook her head, "Nah, I've been going over these photos and something just doesn't add up, so I'm gonna revisit the scene. See if we missed anything."

Catherine shrugged, "Go ahead, just take someone with you."

"I'll be alright, but maybe Brass has a couple of cops who can escort me" Sara said, "I really don't know my way around those mountains."

"Well, I'm off" Catherine said as her pager beeped. Gathering her files she quickly walked out of the room, stalking off down the hall way towards the interrogation room. Sara sighed as the tension in the room returned as fast as a bullet. Deciding a trip to the mountains was what she needed to clear her head, she gathered her things and began to walk out of the room, but a voice stopped her.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

Sara stopped and turned her head, so Grissom could only see half of her face, "You're the one avoiding me."

Grissom frowned, "Why would I?" he asked confused.

"Well, you have been ever since I came to Vegas" she said as the room grew dead silent, "It's sad isn't it Grissom."

He started at her, wondering where she was going with this.

"Guys like you, a couple of middle aged men who've allowed work to consume their lives" Sara continued, "The only time you ever touch others is when your wearing you latex gloves, right Griss?"

Grissom stared in horror as Sara recited his exact works, to the doctor he spilled his relationship to. She was there!

"You wake up one day and realize that for 50 years you haven't really lived at all" Sara said close to tears, his words in the interrogation room that day had hurt her so deeply, that they were seared into her brain forever. Like a lost love letter, "But then all of a sudden you get a second chance…"

Grissom could hear her voice breaking, he wanted for nothing more than to run up to her and comfort her. But he knew in his heart he couldn't.

"Somebody young and beautiful shows up, somebody that you can care about. She offers you a new life with her, though you have a big decision to make, right?"

Grissom could feel the anguish and pain inside him, the desire to tell her, to just _tell _Sara what he had been dieing to tell her from the very first day he met her. But as usual he kept his mouth shut, and his head down allowing her to continue.

"Because you have to risk everything you've worked for in order to have her. But you couldn't do it" Sara said sadly, "But _he_ did, he risked it all. And _she _showed him a wonderful life, didn't she?"

Grissom's heart clenched as he remembered whom she was referring to. A recent case which had torn him apart, the Debbie Marlin case where her ex- boyfriend Vincent Lurie had killed her. The words Sara spoke now were words he himself had spoken to Lurie in a different fashion, but he was still so shocked in finding out she was there. She was probably behind that glass wall, just staring at him emptily as he had confessed to a total stranger. Sara's voice drew him back to reality.

"But then she took it away and gave it to somebody else, and he was lost. So he took her life, he killed them both…and now he has nothing."

Grissom took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down, "You were there? Why didn't you tell me?"

Sara snorted angrily, "Why didn't _you _tell me? Why didn't you tell me what you told Lurie?"

"Sara! I couldn't, I just…"

"What!? You just couldn't risk anything?" Sara choked through her tears, "I wasn't asking you to! But the fact that you could even _think_ I would betray you if you had me, was just…"

"Sara!" Grissom exclaimed, he could feel his heart crumbling, "Please, just let me explain!-"

"No!" she snapped, "I've heard enough of your explaining!"

She turned around to face him, backing away slowly. Grissom was shocked to see the steady stream of tears flowing down her face, and his desire to help her only grew. But she was pushing him away, like he had pushed her away, "If you don't want me fine! If you don't want us to be together, then fine! But if you don't love me, I don't think I could stand it anymore. You've broken my heart, one to many times and I feel empty. So you know what, why don't you…just…go…to…hell?!"

With that she spun around and shoved open the doors leading to the car park. Grissom was too shocked to go after her, so he just sank back down into his chair felling a fresh wave of sorrow hitting him like a tsunami. Little did he think, that that just might be the last time he would ever see Sara Sidle alive again.

* * *

**TBC…**

**A/N: Next chapter will be coming along soon, as soon as I finish my HW. God! Well, I can tell you Sara is about to land herself in some big trouble in a chapter or two. So hang around to read more. Thanks to all who reviewed, much appreciated. Don't forget to tell me what you think about this one!**

**Sarah**


	3. Interrogation

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter 3- Interrogation**

"Alright Mr. Brooks, I'm gonna be generous and lay it out simple for ya" Catherine said, "When was the last time you spoke to your girlfriend Debra Fellons?"

"Uh…yesterday morning, at the hospital" answered the tall ginger head man sitting across from Catherine, "Why?"

"Where were you around 8:00pm that night?"

"I already told that cop guy, at a local bar, drinking off my shift" he said smoothly, his baby blue eyes glazing over the woman "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well Mr. Brooks, your ex-girlfriend Debra Fellons was murdered last night" Catherine replied watching the man carefully for a reaction. He simply averted his gaze down to the table staring straight ahead, "And I can see from your reaction, Debra's death isn't a shock. You weren't really at the bar at 8:00 were you Mr Brooks?"

He remained silent.

"Well, we found Miss. Fellon's body, out in the mountains-"

"There's nothing to prove I was there, and not at the pub" Brooks muttered darkly.

Catherine shook her head, "We found a strand of your hair on her body DNA confirms the match. And it was ginger, what do you wanna say about that?"

Brooks didn't move his eyes away from the table he was staring at, "I don't know, you tell me?"

"Oh, we will" Brass said as he walked in to the interrogation room, just in time to catch the younger mans remark, "All in good time. But we were wondering if you could speed things up for us, bring us up to date. Since you _were_ there. I just called into that 'local' bar you mentioned you were at for a million and one times, you weren't there."

Brooks remained silent. Brass sighed taking a seat next to Catherine.

"Listen, we can do this the hard way" he said tiredly, "And we will find out what happened, or you could just save us the time and tell us."

Brooks finally glanced up at Catherine and Brass, hardly aware of Grissom quietly observing in a corner of the room, "Just because you found evidence that I was there, doesn't mean I killed Debra."

Catherine shrugged, "Well, no it doesn't. But then you see, there is this case about another man we found in his apartment around the time we found Debra Fellons, he was poisoned on long term basis you see."

Brooks frowned, "So what? What does he have to do with anything? I don't understand where you're going with this?"

"Oh, no I'm sure you do" Brass continued, "See 'casue we did a little research and we found out your girlfriend Debra, wasn't as loyal as you make out she was. Apparently she dumped you; she dumped you for another man, 'Eric Stovens'. That name sound familiar to you?"

"No, why? Should it?" Brooks asked.

"Yes it should" Catherine peered at the file in her hands, "He was a newly recruited member to the nurse staff at the hospital, put under your 'wing'. Since you were the good doctor" she said placing a photo of Eric on the desk.

Brooks peered over at it, "Yeah, so what. I knew him just as another co-worker nothing else."

"Well I'm sure that's true. Up until Debra dumped you for him, then you just saw him as an enemy."

"No! What you think I killed this kid?" Brooks exclaimed.

"Blame that on the poison we found in his system. A poison quite frankly you have access to, through the hospital" Brass said, taking a seat next to Catherine, "So this punk kid steals your girl. She was young and she was your gateway to happiness, but all of a sudden she just left. So...you knock off the kid who stole her from you, and teach her a good lesson."

Brooks sighed and quickly returned to staring at the table, "I want my lawyer."

"Yeah, I bet you do" Brass said coldly. He got up from his chair and paced the room impatiently.

Grissom who had been silent through the entire interrogation, now spoke up knowing this was the only chance to obtain information without another annoying lawyer on their backs.

"Mr. Brooks" Grissom asked, "You work at the hospital, am I correct?"

He nodded, finally noticing Grissom. Something flashed over the man's smooth image; this didn't go unnoticed to Grissom. Brooks it seemed was familiar with Grissom's face as recognition flashed through his eyes, the colour draining from his face.

"You got a lot of friends there" he asked taking Brass's seat, "You know get along with the other staff?"

"Yeah, sure" Brooks said simply, "Me and a bunch of the other doctors are close friends. Why?"

Grissom regarded the man in front of him. His graying ginger hair and tired eyes triggered something inside Grissom's mind, a memory. Annoyingly he couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly, It was on the edge of his tongue but he couldn't quite remember; annoyed now he decided to focus on his next question, "Mr. Brooks, I want you to do me a pretty simple favor. Would you please grin?"

Brooks looked at Grissom in confusion, "Why?"

"Could you please just do it?"

Catherine glanced over at Grissom, wondering what he was getting at and smiled as she realized his plan, the chipped tooth. Brooks sighed once more, and grinned producing a set of gleaming white teeth which, in Grissom's opinion belonged on one of the dental floss adds. All except for the front left tooth, which was missing a small edge to it. As if it had been knocked out of his mouth.

"Your tooth Mr. Brooks, you wanna tell us what happened to it?" Grissom asked.

Brooks fingered the chipped tooth, but all the while remained silent. Grissom never stopped looking over at the man contemplating his actions.

"You see, 'cause we found a piece of a chipped tooth at the scene where Debra Fellons was murdered" Grissom stated, "Now unless you punched yourself, which is really dumb. Or if Miss. Fellons punched you in the mouth before you killed her-"

"I didn't kill her!" Brooks bellowed, startling everybody in the room.

"-but we didn't find any evidence, indicating that she had. No indentions, scars or marks on her hands. Which must mean somebody else did it" Grissom finished calmly.

He watched for a reaction, Brooks eyes gleamed with fear as he realized Grissom was catching onto something "Did anyone help you with this? Anyone we should know about?"

The man glanced over at where Grissom stat in surprise, "So you don't know?" he snorted, "I was wondering why you people hadn't mentioned it yet. Looks like your _little _research, didn't go that far. You thought you had it all wrapped up. That I killed both Debra and Eric, didn't you?" he snorted, "Some detectives."

"What didn't we mention Mr. Brooks?" Grissom asked calmly.

Brooks chuckled evilly, "We were friends, you know. But as soon as he suggested I kill Debra I knew something was wrong. I mean killing Eric was one thing, but to harm the one woman I loved was another story. I just wanted to shake her up, you know 'cause she left me" he complained, "_He _offered to help me, when I told him, but know I know I was just a pawn in his plan, just an insignificant part of his…_deceiving plan_! And my Debra was killed because of him!"

"Who?" Grissom asked coming to eye level with him, "Who did this?"

The man smiled up at Grissom, "My co-worker… no wait my _"friend"_ from the hospital, of course" he spat.

Grissom's brow frowned. The man shook his head in clear amusement; barring his teeth he whispered two words "Vincent Lurie."

"_Oh god" _Grissom thought, _"Sara!"_

* * *

Sara pulled the Tahoe over to the side of the road. Getting out she glanced at the long stretch of road leading back to the bright lights of Vegas. A full day had passed since she had visited the crime scene. She had never known a bunch of test results could take that long to process. She was positive she would die of boredom if Greg had taken any longer.

"_Damn your blood samples Nick and Warrick" _she thought _"Of course they get their case finished first!"_. All she wanted to do was go home, crawl into bed and let sleep wash over her mind. So she could forget all about her sorrow, which was life. But she knew she would feel even better once she finished this case. Sighing heavily she glanced up at the dark sky, heavy storm clouds were rolling over the distant horizon, it was going to be one rough night, and Sara could already fell cold wind biting into her exposed skin. She jumped slightly as the bright lights of the police car parked behind the Tahoe, and two officers slammed their doors shut as they followed Sara to the previous crime scene.

Sara knew they had missed something, a vital piece of evidence her gut told her so. She knew Grissom would tell her to follow the evidence, but that was running out. The officers nodded approvingly at Sara as they stood their guard a little further away from the crime scene, behind a couple of trees so Sara could have some privacy. She passed them and opened her field kit in the secluded clearing, the stretch of ground where the dead Debra was only a few hours ago was marked out with white chalk. Sara sighed and got to work, carefully scanning the area for evidence. She was so utterly absorbed in her work that she didn't hear the rustling in the nearby bushes or the snap of a twig or two.

Only the loud, echoing gunshot a few moments later made her head turn around in surprise and shock.

"Hey!" one of the officers yelled, Sara heard him draw his weapon but someone beat him to it as another shot was fired. The sound of a limp body crashing to the floor was heard, then utter silence. Sara stood in the clearing her eyes frozen on the trees where the officers had been. She could see the limp body of the first officer, blood pooling around his body, dark eyes staring out hopelessly. They flashed a warning look toward her direction her telling her one thing… run.

And Sara did just that, pulling out her gun as she flew into the cover of the trees. As she begun to hear over the wild pounding of her heart, she could hear someone crashing through the trees behind her. And she knew she wasn't quick enough as a hand enclosed around her mouth.

"Hello Sara" a man snarled. Her eyes widened as he said her name, but she didn't have to worry long as something made hard contact with her head and her world went black.

* * *

**TBC…**

**A/N: I am so going to fail my Math's, Science and Italian exams tomorrow. I **_**should **_**have been studying for them, but writing is a temptation for me, Oh well. I'll update as soon as the tests are done, a day or two I think, but Sara is in deep trouble next chapter I can tell you that much, so stick around! Review and tell me what you think!**

**Sarah**


	4. Without A Trace

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter 4- Without A Trace **

"Cant this thing go any faster?!" Catherine snapped at Nick, who had his foot down on the pedal as hard as he could.

"I'm trying!" he said desperately, absolutely flooring the Tahoe he was driving. It remained the same, constant speed it was already at. The surrounding dry sand, spotted here and there with an unlucky shrub flew past the five occupants in the CSI car. The towering mountains looming before them, as they raced across the long, dry plane of Vegas desert. The light's of Las Vegas itself sparkling behind their backs.

"Man!…Common Nick!" Warrick almost shouted from the backseat, "We have to get to Sara! Who in gods name, chose to drive this piece a sh-!"

"Still can't get through to her cell!" Grissom interrupted sighing in frustration and dialing her number again. He might as well be banging his head against a brick wall, he had already called a thousand times, each resulting with no answer, "Damn it Sara pick up!!"

"Do you think she's alright?" Greg asked into the worried silence that followed. Warrick continued to gaze gloomily out the window, his mind a thousand miles away from the endless sand he saw. Catherine clenched her jaw and tried not to think of her friend, and what might be happening to her. Nick glanced in the revision mirror at Grissom who had turned sickly pale.

"Don't worry" Catherine said bravely, "She'll be fine. She's probably just ignoring her cell like she always does anyway."

"Yeah but Griss has called her like a hundred times" Warrick reasoned, "She would be smart enough to tell that something was wrong by now!"

"Does anyone know if she actually has the thing on her?" Greg asked from beside Warrick. The young lab rat had insisted on coming along with the CSI's as soon as Catherine and Grissom had sprinted into the break room, explaining the situation in a jumble of phrases. Greg, Warrick and Nick who had been playing the latest addition of 'Hit man' on their break, had abandoned the controllers of the PS2 and hurried down into the car park piling into a nearby Tahoe.

"She never comes to work without her cell!" Nick muttered through his teeth, frustrated with the car. He looked away fearing the tears which were about to fall from his eyes, tears fearing for Sara. If anything happened to her, it would be like losing family. Thankfully nobody bothered to notice his state.

Grissom sighed in defeat, "This is pathetic!" he said snapping his mobile shut as Sara's voice automatically spoke through the speakers telling him to leave a message.

Everybody sat in silence as the landscape swirled around them, each with their own thoughts with what they would find once they reached their destination. Grissom sat, his eyes staring blankly out at the scenery. Had he just made the biggest mistake of his life? His heart clenched painfully as he remembered his and Sara's last enouncement. Her sad eyes filled with tears, which he had been the cause of. And her back turned on him, telling him that he had screwed everything up, _again_. What he regretted most though was not telling her those three little words, which at the time were balancing on the tip of his tongue dangerously. Waiting to be spilled, but which never came. He desperately held back the tears as he thought of this. Why did he always have to be so stupid!?

In the driver's seat Nick gritted his teeth as the car reached the foot of the mountains, "So uh…nobody's told me who this Lurie guy is yet. You all seem like you know something I don't" asked curiously trying to ease up a bit of the tension.

"Here look at this" Catherine said. She pulled out a photo from one of the files she held in her hands and held it in front of Nick. As soon as he saw the picture the car swerved dangerously to the other side of the road. Nick gasped in shock, and steadied it ignoring the comments Greg and Warrick were hissing.

"Sara!" he squeaked glancing at the photo once more. The others weren't surprised; the photo was of Debbie Marlin lying on her bathroom floor her throat slit, "I…I-I don't understand?"

"This is from when you were at the conference. The girl in the photo is Debbie Marlin and her killer is Vincent Lurie" Grissom answered dully as the memories flooded back to him.

"What did he escape?"

"No Nicky" Catherine said, "He got away, we didn't have enough evidence to convict him, so he walked. Now from what Brooks told us he's after Sara. We can only hope we get to her before he does."

The car finally pulled to a halt a few meters away from Debra Fellons crime scene. Everybody piled out, not even bothering to slam the doors shut in their hurry.

"Sara!" Catherine called out hoping to hear Sara's annoyed voice answer her plea…but there was nothing, only silence.

"Sara answer us!" came Grissom's panic stricken voice. The team followed their boss off the side of the road, all of them sprinting to keep up with him. Nick collided with Grissom's back as the older man drew up abruptly. Grissom held out his hand stopping the rest of them from going any further, "Oh, god…"

The two lifeless bodies of the officers stared blankly back at them, their pupils glazed with unshed tears of pain. Blood littered the dirt, staining the earth forever.

"SARA!" Grissom called once more. Still there was no answer; Warrick leaned against a nearby tree unable to take everything he saw at once. Nick hung his head fighting back the sudden urge of tears, Greg stared horrified at the two dead bodies by his feet, only Catherine followed Grissom further past the trees the officers lay by. And what they found didn't surprise them. Sara's field kit lay opened unused in the middle of the clearing, blood covering a majority of the greenery.

"Can you see her anywhere?" asked Catherine worriedly, scanning the bushes to the side of the clearing. Once the whole area had been scanned they had still found no trace of Sara. It was as if she had vanished off the face of the earth. Nick, Warrick and Greg appeared from behind the trees their faces a ghostly, paper white.

"He took her" Nick said sadly it wasn't a question, judging from his two co-workers expressions.

Catherine nodded, she glanced at Grissom. The man stood next to her as motionless as a brick, his tired eyes straining with worry, anxiety and to Catherine's surprise regret. She made a mental note to question him about this later when things were more appropriate.

He finally opened his mouth, "We're treating this like a crime scene. Don't hurt any of the evidence; gather it as quickly as you can though. This jerks has got Sara, and god knows…" he trailed off, his voice breaking. Turning his head downward so none of his team could see the gathering tears, Grissom retreated back to the car to collect his kit and phone. His heart melting with fear and regret.

'_Why did I have to be so stupid?' _he asked the heavens for a second time that night. Begging for an answer.

* * *

Sara opened her eyes, she felt lightheaded. A wave of grogginess hit her as she tried to move, to shift her cramped muscles. She moaned as she felt the pain in her head hit her like a tsunami. Fingering her forehead she was surprised to find it was slightly wet, she brought her hand back down to look at what the substance wasn't moved by the fact it was blood. She couldn't care less right now! The washed over her in terrible _thumps _that made her flinch every two seconds.

"Stay still Debbie" said a man's voice calmly, "You got hurt pretty badly back there, but don't worry I'm taking you to some place safe for now."

Sara searched for a body to place the voice with and found one beside her. A man, his graying hair and focusing eyes was driving a car they were in. Sara knew he was driving it pretty fast, she couldn't even feel it moving on the road! And the scenery outside them darted past in a blur of greens, browns and dark blues.

"Who are you?" Sara asked the man weakly.

"You should know Debbie!" the man said shocked, "It's me, remember its Vincent."

'_Vincent' _Sara thought, _'No don't know any Vincent's. Maybe I'm dreaming, but this feels pretty real to me. Wait wasn't I knocked out with a crowbar, oh…my…god' _she glanced at the man beside her and the pieces of the puzzle begun to fit together, _'Vincent…Vincent Lurie from the Debbie Marlin case. What does that murderer want with me?'_

It was then that Sara realized that she was in some serious trouble…

* * *

**TBC…**

**A:N/ Thanks for all your encouragements guys, it goes a long way. Next chap will be along soon, tell me what you think as usual. **

**Sarah**


	5. The White House

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter 5- The White House**

"Debbie!" Lurie roughly shook a sleeping Sara by the shoulder, "Debbie wake up we're here! Remember this place; remember how we always used to come here?"

Sara groaned in annoyance. Unwillingly she glanced out the car window as he shook her shoulder harder, and her eyebrows rose. She was looking at a tall two story house, painted completely in white. There was a large, wooden porch with a swinging chair at the front. Bushy plants hung from every possible outdoor hook. The framed windows looked dark; keeping the rooms they guarded secret from unwanted eyes, a large collection of dust settling at their bases. Overall this house looked like it hadn't been used in months, and to Sara it looked like one of those houses which are in sad ghost stories. Where the ghost would always be looking out the window at you.

"Remember how we used to always come here in the summer Debbie?" Lurie asked again like a little child, "When the weather would get to hot for you?"

Sara's bottom lip curled in distain as he called her Debbie. Who was she kidding? She knew if she wanted to live she would have to play along, it could only leave her to wonder what lay in the future for her. And altogether she would rather not think about that at all. Sara nodded in fake enthusiasm to Lurie's question, afraid if she spoke she would throw up. Encouraged he got out of the car and practically had to drag her up to the front door. He opened it and threw her inside. If this was what it was like to be Debbie, Sara would pass any day!

Deicding the best thing was not to watch her captor she glanced around; the walls were painted a soft cream with circular patterns rubbed into them. Small side tables held large vases, which had colourful flowers bundled together in string. There was a similar pattern to the whole house, Sara realized, as Lurie lead her into the next room; the kitchen. Lurie dug into the stainless steel refrigerator and withdrew a bottle of water.

"Here!" he said, handing it to her.

"It's alright" Sara said quickly, unable to trust anything he was giving her to drink. He had after all assisted Mr. Brooks in poisoning his colleague.

"Debbie!" he said coldly.

"I said I'm fine!" Sara snapped, unable to control herself. Lurie's face was like a mask, which had been ripped off in a manner of seconds. He backhanded Sara and she flew to the floor automatically protecting her head. He stood fuming while she curled on the ground. Her face felt numb, but Sara knew from experience the pain would come a few moments later. And when it finally did she couldn't help but let out a small gasp, her eyes watering.

"I didn't have to do that!" Lurie spat at her, "But yet again, I'm forced to do something I shouldn't have!"

Sara felt her anger rise, "I didn't force you to do anything!"

He aimed a kick at her ribs, and Sara was sure she heard the sickening _crack!, _as one of them broke. She swallowed the tears, bile rising in her throat and spilling out all over Lurie's neat floorboards. He gave her another kick, this time more violent. Sara realised this man was like her father, whom she had always referred to as having the personalities of Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde. Sara felt all the bones in her body protest as he grabbed her by the shoulder blades and dragged her through the backdoor out into the garden. The only thing Sara could focus on was the shed which was looming closer through her subconscious mind. Lurie kicked open the door, jerking her inside, watching amused as she rolled over painfully a few times before smashing into the back wall with a heart jerking _crunch!_

"I'll be back soon!" he spat, "And when I return hopefully you'll be more cooperative?"

"Not a chance in the world!" Sara muttered darkly as the door slammed shut and the deadlock bolted shut. Leaving her in utter and complete darkness.

* * *

"_Snow, yes I repeat snow! Is falling in the mountain regions surrounding Vegas. Never before have we seen anything like this folks, but snowfall is expected to be getting heavier and heavier by the minute!" _the picture on the small TV flashed from the energetic news reporter to a picture of snow, falling thickly and blanketing the ground like frost.

"I can't believe this!" Nick almost shouted at the TV reporter as he reappeared on screen. He slammed his coffee onto the table, making the hot liquid slosh over the rim of his cup and onto his hand. He cursed darkly under his breath as he felt his hand burn slightly.

"Cant believe what?" asked Warrick stomping into the break room, his mood no better than Nick's.

"The weather up in the mountains got really bad, and its snowing!" Nick exclaimed shaking the liquid off his hand, "I mean for gods sake we're in the desert! They even blocked off the roads going out and leading to it, they reckon it's gonna get really bad up there. You know what that means!"

"Yeah, that idiot with Sara is trapped there doing god knows what with her, waiting for us to catch his fired ass!" Warrick stated angrily. Frustrated he kicked a nearby chair, sending it flying into a corner of the room. Nick ignored this as he ran his hand under cold water from the sink.

"_And if you look here, Cars are queuing down the road to get out of here. None of them apparently expecting this sudden change in weather" _the TV continued.

"I just can't stand the feeling of not being able to help Sar" Nick said as Warrick begun to calm down his eyes traveling to the TV, "Brass has like a hundred cops out there looking for her, he figured Lurie might be in that queue out there. The police are monitoring every car that's passing through that exit, but it's like finding your way through a maze out there. And I just can't shake the feeling that I'm not able to do anything."

"I know what you mean" Warrick said taking a seat, "The two bodies of those cops we found have no evidence on them, in them or around them. They just got shot, and dropped dead end of story!"

"We didn't find anything when you rode with the bodies back to the lad either" Nick said, "Cath, Griss and I searched but this guy must be a professional or something. There was absolutely nothing, except blood! Which Greg drove back with and only confirmed majority of it was Sara's!"

A deathly silence filled the break room, one question running through both men's minds. Was Sara Sidle alive?

"It's just like the last time Nick!" Warrick said, looking out the office window.

"What?"

"Lurie!" Warrick gritted his teeth, "When he killed Debbie Marlin, he left nothing. I mean come on! He _neatly _chopped up her boyfriend and placed him in the garbage, god knows what he could be doing with Sara! There's no such thing as safe with that man! Cath was talkin' to me about it and all they had to convict him with was the fact he had graying hair and he was a lefty. Other than that nothing else…"

Nick was about to reply when Catherine herself glided into the room, "Hey guys!" she panted, "I've been looking all over for you! We just got a warrant to search Vincent Lurie's house!"

Nick frowned, "Why would we need to search his house? We already know he's got Sara in the mountains?"

"Yeah, but Grissom figured he had to have planned this since it was so well organized" the blonde replied, "Maybe we'll find some sort of clue as to _where _in those mountains he actually is."

Nick shrugged, "Anything to help Sara, my mind is driving me crazy!"

"How is Grissom?" asked Warrick. He knew the older man was having a hard time since they found no Sara. Everybody in the lab knew the two of them secretly held feelings for each other, even if they never acted on it. Maybe this was the wake up call; all they had to do was return Sara back safely of course.

Catherine sighed, "Not good. I was actually planning on speaking to him while you guys were heading down to the car. So I'll guess I'll meet you both there."

Nick and Warrick nodded understandingly, both of them dropping what they were doing and steadily striding down to the lower levels of parking. Catherine sighed watching their retreating backs, her eyes traveled to her boss's office door. Hesitantly she stepped out of the break room, down the hall and toward the office door. To unaware to even notice the news reporter's voice flaring from the TV on her way out;

"_Well ladies and gentlemen it seems the snow is continuing to fall at incredible rates. Only time will tell how bad this is gonna get!"_

* * *

**TBC…**

**A:N/ Thanks to all who reviewed much appreciated. I know it's near impossible to have snow near the dessert, but what the heck! This is fanfiction! Next chapter will be up pretty soon!**

**Sarah**


	6. Colour Splash

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter 6 – Colour Splash**

Catherine wasn't surprised to find Grissom's office empty. Deciding she would rather question him when she came back, she softly closed the door, and trudged gloomily to the car park. And yet again her mind was clouded with thoughts of Sara. What was happening to her? Catherine knew things between the two of them weren't the best, but despite that Catherine still cared about her, like any friend should even if it was a professional friendship and nothing more! If anything happened to her, she knew she would willingly take the blame. After all it was her who without thinking let Sara go to the mountains alone without her help. It was like losing family, even if she was distant. Their bond had grown without Catherine's knowledge and that scared her. Desperately she tried to take her mind off it.

'_Lets see' _the older woman thought, _'Lindsey has a Science project on the periodic table due further on in the week. Wait? Do I know the periodic table off by heart, or have I forgotten? Well, H is Hydrogen, He is Helium and Li is Lithium. Uh.. what's the next one? Sara would know. Wait! No Sara! I mean- oh god why do I even try!?'_

Catherine felt her anger rise; she was relieved when she reached the Tahoe they would be driving to the scene. Nick and Warrick were already strapped in, talking quietly with each other.

"Wow some talk Catherine. That was really quick." Nick said sarcastically as he spotted her.

Catherine glared at him climbing into the car, "He wasn't in his office!"

Warrick sighed, "I guess he wouldn't be."

Nick shrugged, "You should have seen him at the scene, he refused to speak to anybody when we were collecting evidence at the double homicide. Did something happen between those two?"

Distractedly Catherine fumbled with her seat belt, "Yeah they had this huge fight before she left to go back over the scene. Surprised you didn't hear about it, I kinda walked around the corner and heard her telling him to go to hell."

"Really?!" they both exclaimed, Catherine only nodded.

"Well I think I was in trace somewhere, but a fight between them isn't anything new."

"Yeah" Catherine agreed, "Especially when-" but her words were cut short as her pager suddenly went off and she slid it out of her pocket, sighing as the message was read.

"What is it?" Warrick asked catching her expression.

"Well, put it this way" she replied shifting the car into gear and driving them out into the bright streets of Vegas, "We're still no closer to finding Sara than we were before."

* * *

"Well this place is nice" Catherine said out loud as she, Nick and Warrick stood outside Lurie's residence. In truth it wasn't such a bad place, as the three of them had expected it to be. It was a large house, with flowers littering the front pathway. The three team members had to tread carefully as not to trample them, since they hung low over the pavement. The front view of the house looked like an exact replica of a little girl's doll house. Smooth wood glimmered in the late afternoon sun and sunflower boxes hung outside almost every window sill. Wearily team opened up the door and carefully entered the house.

"Woah, this place is top notch!" Warrick whistled, glancing all over the entrance room which was painted an iced coffee brown. Clear glass photo frames contained photos of a graying haired man (supposedly Lauire), and as the three of them traveled into other various rooms of the house they could see the rooms were all of similar fashion. The furniture stained a dark chocolate, everything neat and tidy in their exact place.

"Okay well" Catherine sighed, "Warrick and I will take downstairs. Nicky you got up."

"Alright" Nick agreed smirking in Warrick's general direction. He grumbled as he took the stairs two at a time, and came to a long hallway lined with doors all the way to the very end. Opening the first door he saw what he believed to be a 'guest bedroom', a double bed pushed against the far wall and elegant furniture covering a moderate amount of space. He could see nothing of use here so he pushed the door closed and proceeded to the next room. Only to produce the same result all the way down to the last two rooms. The first of these he confirmed to be the 'master bedroom' which he eagerly entered. Ten minutes later he sighed in defeat as he walked out of the room empty handed, there was nothing but a bunch of papers about buying properties throughout Vegas. That and a whole bunch of abandoned jewelry. He clenched his jaw as he opened the last door, preparing for another heart wrenching defeat. But instead of feeling his heart sink, it missed a beat.

"Catherine!" he called, "Warrick!"

Multiple footsteps stampeded up the staircase, and a moment later both his co-workers were at his side, but he couldn't take his eyes off the room. Instead he stepped carefully into it.

"Nicky what's-"Catherine was cut short as she saw the colourfully decorated room beyond, "Good god!"

Nick twirled around slowly, absorbing all the different shades of purple and blue. All the other rooms had been the same dull colour as the entrance. But this room was certainly something different.

"Man!" he exclaimed, eyeing the hundreds of pictures containing Debbie Marlin photo's on the walls, "It's like a Sara Sidle stalker!"

"Except this Sara Sidle is dead" Warrick said, he hated these colours for some reason. They made him feel out of place.

"He must've been really obsessed" Nick realized as he eyed all the Debbie's frozen in time.

"Tell me about it" Catherine said. The team was silent for a moment.

"Why is everything in this room...Butterflies?"

As soon as Nick said that, Warrick and Catherine realized it was true. Blue and purple butterflies flew on the walls, their graceful wings splattering the length of the room. The photo frames were twisted into metal shapes of butterflies and a single wall to the left held various pieces of Butterfly jewelry. Even the floor was carpeted to represent one single butterfly flying into the night. The only thing not relating to the insect, was a white desk. A pile of papers strewn about on its surface.

Catherine gaped at all the effects, "Man I wouldn't even let Lindsey go this far!"

"Wasn't that Debbie obsessed with Butterflies or something?" Warrick asked.

"Well that would explain all this wouldn't it?" Nick shook his head, feeling a little dizzy from all the colours he had taken in, in just one minute.

"Yeah, it sure would…"Catherine walked over to the desk curiously and shuffled through the papers.

* * *

The team took photographs and bagged anything they thought would be helpful. The mood though was gloomy as they left the house, everything was utterly quiet. As if the breath of laughter in their small group had been stolen, which in a way it had. It was with sunken hearts that they returned to the lab, each of them secretly hoping this was just a dream. But they returned to find no Sara, and even no Grissom as Catherine stuck her head into his office. Back to the lab they had called their home, until their friend was safely returned as well…

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this is such a boring chapter, but I'm developing more of the plot right now. The next chapter will be along soon, and thanks to all who reviewed for every other chapter I've written! Tell me what you thinks going to happen! I'd love to hear some suggestions, that's if you want the ending to be different?**

**Sorry if there is any spelling mistakes, its like 2 am in the morning and i am so tired right now i could drop! Well gotta catch up on some sleep!**

**Sarah**


	7. Imagine

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter 7- Imagine **

Grissom sighed as he stood out in the open desert plain, only a few meters away from the car he had driven to get there. He clenched his jaw as he looked up to the heavens, to the stars and to the bright moon which glowed in the black inky sky. He smiled as he remembered talking to Sara about the stars on a night similar to this.

'_Hey Grissom?' Sara had asked suddenly, 'What do you think about the stars?'_

_Grissom glanced up surprised, from the body he was examining, "Well they are like planets. Great balls of gas, each of them have their own universe surrounding them. The only reason we can see them at night is because-'_

_Sara rolled her eyes, "What?' he asked as he caught her expression. _

'_You always have to give a "scientific" explanation for almost everything don't you?'_

'_What else is there, about stars? There __is __nothing but the scientific explanation."_

_Sara sighed, 'Use your imagination, be creative!'_

_Grissom shrugged, 'And what is your view on stars?'_

_Sara struggled for words, "Well…"_

'_Aha see' he said triumphantly turning back to his crime lying in the cool sand. _

_Sara frowned turning her back on him, tilting her head up to the sky, "I know what stars are like.'_

_Grissom smiled at her stubbornness, 'What?'_

'_They're like Butterflies.'_

_Grissom blinked, 'Butterflies?'_

_Sara nodded, 'Yeah, butterflies. They are both beautiful objects and you see them in one spot one night. Then the next they flutter away to some other place in the sea of blackness. Mysterious just like Butterflies...'_

'_State your source' he inquired._

'_Sara Sidle' she turned to him and smiled her famous Sidle smile, melting his heart. _

'_Butterflies are very fragile. Touch their wings and down they go, they deserve to fly free and be free' he had mumbled, 'And yes they are beautiful creatures, which mystify me and make me feel good when I see them.' _

_She smiled further and turned back to the sky. Grissom sighed and decided they had better head back to the lab, before it got too late to analyze the evidence. He replaced all his tools in the kit, and locked it up. When he stood to head back he wasn't surprised to find Sara still standing with her face to the night. _

"_If only I could tell you" he thought, staring at her back, "You are my butterfly."_

Grissom shook his head, clearing away the memory. It was just too painful right now; he glanced down at his wrist watch and sighed as he realized he had better be getting back. He glanced up at the sky one final time, praying to the stars or 'butterflies' that they would see him reunited with Sara Sidle once more. He was shocked as he turned around to get back in the car, to feel a streak of moisture roll down his cheek and land in the dirt. Twinkling like a diamond in the moonlight.

* * *

"Look whose back" Warrick mumbled, he nodded his head towards the hallway without looking up from his paper. Grissom's office door slammed shut, the three people in the break room barely even catching a glance at the dark figure as he strode in.

"That means I'm gone" Catherine said automatically. She turned away from the break room and traveled up the hallway. Taking a deep breath she knocked on Grissom's office door, and without waiting for a response let herself in. Surprise smacked her in the face as she saw Grissom, his hands over his face as he leaned on his desk. He looked so fragile to Catherine, empty. The radio on his desk was repeating the news headlines from earlier on.

'_Astonishing weather has befallen the area surrounding Las Vegas tonight. Snow…yes snow falling faster than you can imagine, out in the-'_

The voice coming from the radio was cut as Grissom put out a hand to turn it off. He couldn't bear to hear anymore. Concern regarding Sara was making him sick; he could feel a large migraine coming on.

"Gil?" Catherine asked concerned, "You alright?"

He looked up, and what Catherine saw made her eyebrows rise further on her head, his eyes were puffy bearing the slightest hint of tears. Had he been crying?

"Yeah" he asked hoarsely, he cleared his throat, "I'm fine" he tried again.

"Oh…Okay," Catherine was unsure where to start, "Um…well we pulled nothing from trace, and it's been clarified that the bodies were killed with a automatic gun, which no doubt is in Lurie's possession. Other than that, we found absolutely nothing in Mr. Lurie's residence. Except for a creepy room, dedicated to Debbie Marlin…"

Grissom's eyes dulled, "So we're no closer to finding Sara" It was no question.

Catherine shook her head, looking at the ground waiting for him to speak.

"I…I've regretted so many thing's Catherine" he begun, "So many things I've done…but when something like this happens. It…-it really opens your eyes."

Catherine stood there, watching her boss and friend begin to break down, something she wasn't sure she wanted to witness.

"The last thing I told her was that-that I…"

"Don't worry Gil, you don't have to tell me" Catherine said softly, "But I can tell you and Sara didn't part to well, before this happened."

He nodded, still looking straight at his desk.

"But Gil" she said, he looked up slightly, "We _will_ find her. I _know_ we will, and when we do, promise me one thing?"

He looked at her then, straight in the eyes. Catherine continued, "Promise me when we find her that you'll tell her you love her, and you'll never let go of her again. Because if you break her heart one more time Gil Grissom, I'll kill you myself!"

With a weak, friendly smile she glanced at her stunned boss and walked out of the office, wandering back over to the break room.

"That was quick" Warrick said as she re-entered.

"I just can't stand a Gil Grissom who mopes around instead of taking action. He really regrets everything right now, and he's really upset" Catherine said through clenched teeth, walking back and fourth across the room. Warrick and Nick glanced up, their expressions an exact match, sympathy, worry and wonder.

"I can't just sit here anymore" Nick said, "I have to do something to help the case!"

"I know what you mean" Warrick said standing up with Nick, "You coming?" he asked Catherine. She nodded once and turned to follow the boys out the room. Just as she was about to exit though she felt a nagging feeling at the back of her head, and couldn't resist turning back to face the empty break room. Biting back the tears as she saw the lone brunette, sitting at the table with a piece of paper in her hands.

"Hey Catherine" Sara said, smiling up at her friend.

"Sara?" she asked. What was Catherine doing, hallucinating? Deciding to play along with this she opened her mouth to speak but Sara held up her hand.

"Lurie's house" she said simply, "You forgot this."

Standing from the table she strode over to Catherine, handing her the paper. Catherine was lost for words as she stared at Sara, not even registering the paper in her hands. Sara nodded towards it smiling her Sidle smile and dazing her friend. Catherine obeyed her looked down at it;

**Property no. 101- Forefront Mountain Rd**

"Wait! The details here say that this is a property Lurie once bought in the-"glancing up again she was stunned as she faced…nothing but thin air. No Sara and even no paper in her hands. But her mind was working furiously; the imaginative Sara had just given her a vital clue, even if it was based on her imagination. But she did distinctly remember seeing a familiar piece of paper at Lurie's house in their investigation. In the Debbie Marlin shrine room, on the desk! Maybe that was where all the answers lay.

"Catherine!" Warrick called from down the hall, "You alright?" The two boys had seen her little 'zone out', as she had stared into thin air like someone was at her side. And how her hand had curled, like she was holding something. They could almost see the light bulb buzz above her head as her face brightened.

"Catherine?" Nick asked worriedly.

"Guys, I think we need to revisit Lurie's house" she said, "We missed something."

* * *

**A/N: Yet again thanks for all who reviewed. God I think this was one of the longest chapters. Things are gonna start moving along in the next couple of chapters, and all of it involves Sara, so stay tuned. Tell me what you think of this…**

**Sarah**


	8. Shadow Under The Door

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter 8- Shadow Under The Door**

Sara shivered. Not only out of fear, but also from the bitter coldness seeping through the feeble wood of the shed. She hugged her legs closer to her chest. Sara was scared; there was no doubt of that anymore. For the past 12 hours she hadn't gotten any sleep. Lurie's shadow kept creeping back under the door every time she dozed off. And every time this happened her whole body tensed up, as he entered to check on her. The door creaking eerily on its hinges.

"Are you ready to come out yet Debbie?" he had always asked softly.

Sara would gently shake her head, and he would stiffly back off sliding out of the shed, bolting the doors once again. Sara didn't want to go back inside. God only knew what he would do with her then. She would rather freeze to death in some shed. But from experience, she knew her evading him wouldn't last long. He would get frustrated with her and eventually drag her back inside. Sara didn't think her body was ready to handle more pain. Her ribs were giving her a hard enough time; she was more than confident that Lurie had broken a few from before. Sara winced as she tried to move, but the stabbing pain in her left side made her freeze.

'_Good thing this weather is helping to numb the pain' _she thought glumly. That was another thing she didn't understand. Why was it so cold? It hadn't rained since she had been here. It just seemed like the wind itself had turned bitter, freezing everything it touched. Deciding she needed to rest, she leant against the wooden wall and tried to close her eyes. But only one thing was stopping her.

"Grissom" she whimpered as she spotted the shadow under the door again…

* * *

Grissom sat in his office, a pile of paper work shadowing his vision. He knew he couldn't get through it, not now. His mind was far from the room of his office. He had considered jumping into his car, to search the mountains himself since they weren't making any progress. But he knew it wouldn't make a difference. The others in the team had encouraged him to go home and take a rest, have a shower and eat something. But he couldn't concentrate; his mind was alive and buzzing.

'_How can one woman cause me this much pain, guilt and worry?' _he thought to himself, as he abandoned the paper work and went to lie on the small couch against a wall. He closed his eyes as he felt them sting with fresh tears, he had never cried so much in his life. And absolutely never in front of other people, that was like the pope of Rome declaring Christianity as an insane bunch. Which, he would never do. Grissom felt himself drift into an uneasy sleep as his mind hit overload. Unable to think, he let himself be consumed by the unwavering darkness…

'_Stay back!' Lurie screamed over the CSI's pleas, "Just stay back!"_

_He dragged Sara with him a few paces backwards toward the cliff top, holding the knife securely to his prisoner's throat. The team froze, Grissom at their head. _

'_Listen Vincent' he said calmly, "We can work everything out, just please give me Sa- Debbie. She's hurt and if you want her to live, you have to let us help her.'_

_Lurie shook his head, 'I don't care about that anymore. If we both die, __you __people wouldn't bother us and we could finally live in peace…together.'_

_Sara's eyes widened in fear as the knife pressed a little harder into her throat. It took all of Grissom's control not to run over and rip Lurie into a thousand pieces, as he saw the steady line of blood flow down Sara's neck. _

'_Please' she pleaded with her captor. Lurie gritted his teeth and Sara then knew her time was up. Her tear filled eyes sought out her friends, and in their brown depths said one final goodbye to each of them in turn. Her eyes finally locked with Grissom. _

'_I'm sorry' she was able to say. His eyes widened and he shook his head violently. _

'_No Sara!' he shouted._

'_I'm sorry Debbie' Lurie whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek. Sara's eyes never left Grissom's, even as all he could do was watch terrified as Lurie slowly dragged the blade across her neck…_

'_SARA!' they all cried out in horror. _

"NO!" Grissom bellowed, waking up with a jolt. His heart was pulsing a hundred times its normal beat, his head throbbing as a migraine settled in. He slammed back down against the couch, as he realized it had only been a dream. He took a few deep breaths to settle down, shaking violently as his cell rang. Sighing back the tears, he unclipped it and flipped it open.

"Grissom" he answered. He seemed to listen, and anybody who saw his face in that moment, knew something serious had been said…

* * *

"Hurry it up!" Catherine snapped angrily at the confused officer. His hands hurriedly fiddled with the ring of keys he held; once he found the right one he shoved it into the lock of Mr. Lurie's front door. Turning the knob and opening it for the irritated woman he did not want to get on the bad side of. Catherine darted inside; Warrick and Nick close behind her. They raced up the stairs and down the hall, directly aiming for the last room. They opened the door to come back into the 'Debbie Marlin room' (as they now called it) and all three of them strode over to the desk.

"Here" Catherine said handing Nick a pile of papers from the desk and another to Warrick. She focused on her own pile, shuffling through the papers one by one. Tax papers, purchases for various guns, explosive liquids and everything but what they were looking for.

"Oh, by the way Cath" Nick said looking into his papers as he spoke, "While you were chatting with Grissom, Warrick and I got the news about Mr. Brooks. He was convicted of murdering both Debra Fellons and Evan Stovens, and got life sentence in prison."

"Well" Catherine sighed, "That's some good news. Lurie's gonna get it. And let me tell you not only from the court!"

"Catherine?" Warrick asked uncertainly after finding nothing, "Are you sure this is right? I mean if you only 'imagined' Sara, then how do you this is real-"

"Because I just know!" Catherine snapped, upset as she threw down her pile after finding nothing herself. Warrick sighed and shared a glance with Nick, he then took Catherine by the shoulders and steered her out into the hallway.

"What?" she said bluntly.

"Are you alright?" he asked concerned.

"No! Of course I'm not alright" she snapped, "One of us is out there with some maniac and we don't know where else to turn!"

Warrick only continued to stare at her, holding her shoulders firmly.

"It's just, you know how Sara and I were never really close, right?" she asked.

He nodded.

"We had so many fights and I never got to apologize for any of them" she said trying to hold the tears, "She grew on me!"

Warrick laughed and gave her a hug as she let a few tears fall, "Yeah, I think she grew on us all!" he said as he felt the moisture in his eyes, "But I promise you we _will _find her!"

Catherine nodded into his chest, "I can only imagine how Grissom is feeling. He looked so lost!"

"Yeah I know, put it this way when we find Sara we get Grissom back" Warrick and Catherine stood there for a couple of moments, each in their own thoughts. They were brought back to earth as Nick appeared in the doorway, his face deathly pale.

"Nick what's-"Catherine begun.

He only shook his head and held out his hand. In it was a piece of folded paper; Catherine snatched it and opened it up.

**Property no. 101- Forefront Mountain Rd**

Her mouth hung open; Warrick saw her reaction and took the paper gently from her hands. Gasping as he gave it a read through.

"You were right!" Nick exclaimed to Catherine, "I mean…You were actually right! That's some weird sh-!"

"This is really gonna help us" Warrick said quickly, "I'm gonna call Brass. Catherine-"

"Yeah I know" she said slipping her cell out. She followed Nick and Warrick as they quickly traveled back to their car, Warrick firing instructions to Brass over the phone and Nick dealing with the officers waiting outside. Catherine felt a flicker of hope start in her and spread like wildfire as she rang the first phone number she thought of.

She only had to wait for the first dial, "Yeah Grissom, its Catherine. Listen I think we may have found where Sara is…"

* * *

**A/N: Hey! Thanks for the continuous reviews they're great! Updates may take a little longer than usual, but not much. They my even be more frequent, it depends on my mood, but they will come within a day or two of each other. I'm writing another CSI story which I'm going to post soon, so stay with me. **

**But don't worry the next update will be in a day or two. Let's see what happens to Sara shall we? **

**Sarah**


	9. Forever Falling Snow

**

* * *

**

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Nine- Forever Falling Snow **

Sara was jerked awake when she felt herself meet the hard carpet floor.

"Wh-"she begun confused.

"Shut Up!" Lurie snapped, he was standing by a dark wooden desk. Various pieces of complicated machinery littered its surface; Sara recognized all of it as high notch police gear. Lurie was turning the knob of a police scanner trying to catch a particular channel. Sara took teh chance to glanc around groggily, realizing she was in the lounge room. She lay at the foot of the lounge, which was dark and puffy. The chocolate furniture was bathed in warm light from the nearby kitchen. So different to the shed Sara had taken residence in for the past few days. She had lost count of how many times Lurie had visited her in there and given her a cruel beating, which only kept getting worse and worse. The inside of the shed looked like someone had butchered half a dozen pigs. Sara knew she had lost a lot of blood, which wasn't good. She also supported many new injuries, which were hurting her a lot at the moment. Sara jumped as she suddenly heard a raspy voice ring out over the silence;

'_- CSI Las Vegas Lab issuing all police cars to rally to the following address: 'Property no. 101- Forefront Mountain Rd-' _Lurie's hand slipped as his address was read out, with a muttered curse he flipped it back to the channel,_ '- suspect believed to be a tall six foot, graying haired man. A CSI Sidle held captive, tall brunette. Do not shoot to kill before victim is cleared-'_

"Damn it!" Lurie cursed; he aimed his gun at the scanner and fired, making Sara gasp at the impact. The scanner blew up, and Sara had to shield her head when some of the broken pieces flew towards her. Never the less her mind was working furiously.

'_They've found me!' _her heard skipped a beat, seriously hoping this wasn't dream, _'They found me! Wait-'_

"You!" Lurie snapped at her, "Get up!"

Sara remained motionless, her mind preoccupied. With a snarl Lurie grabbed her shoulder and hoisted her up. She cried out from the pain in her ribs and leg, which were protesting against her body. She was bleeding from several cuts, some of them bigger than others but they sure hurt! There was a terrible gash on her forehead from where Lurie had knocked her out, and it refused to stop bleeding, this worried Sara. She might eventually end up with a concussion. And she was positive her sides were about to split when Lurie dragged her out the front door. He didn't bother to lock it as he spun Sara around.

And what she sure made her jaw drop in surprise and shock…

* * *

"Brass!" Grissom yelled through the open window of the Tahoe. As it slowed down, he opened the door and jumped out running over to meet his friend.

"Hey Griss, wait!" Brass said quickly, "We have to make sure they're really here first-"

Grissom glanced at the large white house, which was towering over the many black clad uniforms surrounding its outside. Each officer held a long gun, aimed coldly toward the doors, windows and anything else posing as a threat.

"What do you mean?" Grissom practically shouted, "We have to hang around here and wait for him to do something else to her?"

Before Brass or anybody else could stop him, Grissom shoved passed the police guards and made a run for teh front door. He hadn't even reached the threshold when he sensed something was wrong. His blood ran cold as he pushed passed the creaking door, and into the living room. There was a steady stream of blood running from the edge of the couch all the way out the front door. Pieces of what once was a police scanner, lay shattered all over the room.

"Grissom!" Nick yelled as he skidded through the entrence. He stopped short as he tried to avoid the blood.

"Griss!" Warrick and Catherine appeared right behind their co-worker, taking in the scene with their renewed eyes.

But Grissom wasn't paying attention to them, his eyes traveled to the other blood lines which were _leading _to the couch.

"Look there" he told his team, pointing to the patterns, "It looks like somebody dragged a body over to the couch."

Catherine stepped over to the sofa, "Guys" she said bending over to observe the markings, "This trail leads out to the backyard."

Without hesitation they all cautiously made their way through the backdoor, following the barley visible boot marks and blood stains through the snow until they came upon the shed.

"You ready for this?" Grissom asked turning over to the others, laying his hand on the handle of the shed. They all nodded, Nick and Warrick each holding a gun. Taking a deep breath Grissom pried open the door. It was finally ripped open seconds later, sunlight flooding the space inside. And what the team saw inside made their knees shake with an effort to remain standing. Blood, a very large amount, covered everything. The walls, floor, the gardening tools and everything else it could touch.

Catherine fought to cover the nausea, "What...What the hell is this?!"

Nick opened his mouth to reply, but found this was a bad idea as he turned away and threw up in the snow. Warrick turned away reaching in the opposite direction. Grissom leaned heavily against the doorframe. It wasn't the blood which made _him _feel sick, it was guessing which person it belonged to. If Sara had lost this much, she might already be dead. Grissom felt tears burning his eyes, he closed them. He could hear the sound of multiple footsteps rushing over to them. But his mind was numb, how could this be happening? Why him, why Sara? All he wanted to do was find her, take her home and hold her in the warmth of his house. But instead he was stuck here in the freezing cold snow, his lover's blood scaring his eyes.

"Holy cow…" Brass muttered as he spotted inside of the shed, "Woah."

Catherine's face turned sour as she went to help the two boys.

"Grissom, we've secured the house" Brass said slowly unable to tear his eyes from the shed, "There's nobody here, but we did find this. It's adressed to you, I'm so sorry."

Grissom opened his eyes, and found Brass holding out a piece of folded paper for him. He took it and began to read…

* * *

Sara couldn't believe it was snowing. Of all the places in the world, Vegas! Sara would have enjoyed it, but not under these circumstances. Not when she was being carted around like a disposable doll in the mountains, with a maniac who thought she was his dead lover. No, Sara didn't like that at all. And as she glanced out the window, to the falling snow which was no doubt beautiful, she couldn't help but wonder what Grissom was doing. Her heart throbbed as she yet again recalled his last words with her, and her last words to him. She regretted it all at once as she had turned her back to him and walked away, away to the crime scene where she was kidnapped. God, they had gotten into so many fights lately, and she felt so bad about every one of them.

A single tear slid down her cheek as she leaned her head against the cool window, adding a bit of a relief to her throbbing head. The tear rolled over her skin and flew down falling onto her lap. What she wasn't aware of, was at that very moment her tear was just like Grissom, as he himself fell to his knees reading the letter in the cold snow miles away.

She sighed and tried to ignore Lurie who was turning the air conditioning on to a nice warm temperature. He quickly glanced at Sara and then drove his car on, up the slanted road and into the forever falling snow…

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Something got in the way. Yet again thanks for the reviews everyone! My head Is actually throbbing right now. I can feel a huge headache coming on. Well, tell me what you think!**

**Sarah**


	10. So Long Goodbye

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* * *

**

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Ten- So Long Goodbye**

Grissom held back the tears as he begun to read the hastily scrawled note;

_Gil_

_I'm so sorry. I'm only writing this because…I know I can't get out of my situation alive. I know I won't, Lurie wouldn't give me a chance to. He guards me like a hawk, I can see his shadow under the door every waking moment. And every time I see it I think of you. I guess that's why I'm still alive. I just wanted you to know Gil that I am so, so sorry for upsetting you so much over the last couple of years. If I could have asked for anything besides your love, it would be your forgiveness. I guess we __both __haven't been on friendly terms, but everybody fights. _

_Please…tell Catherine and the guys I love them, and they've been like a second family to me since I came to Vegas. Thank them for me; tell them that I wouldn't have traded their friendship for anything, and I'll never forget them. _

_But please Gil don't have any regrets, because I don't. Over the short amount of years you and I have known each other; it's felt like an eternity. And I'm sorry none of us got to make a move. As I said I have no regrets, except that I will never see you again and have you hold me. I wish we could have had more time together, to do so many things. But time has run out and you need to know…I love you. I just wish I could have told you in person. In a way I guess I have tried, but I gave up when I couldn't get through to you. I'm so sorry…for everything. I will always be with you, and you will always have my heart Gil Grissom. Please don't feel bad. Some things were just never meant to be…_

_But when I'm gone and if you ever feel alone, look up to the sky and you will see me. Remember? Because I am a Fallen Butterfly, and one day I will return. I hope one day you will be able to forgive me…_

_Goodbye Gil_

_Sara _

Grissom's hands were shaking as he read the last line. In that single moment something dawned on him, which he had never noticed before. He loved her…he loved Sara Sidle. So much in fact that he felt like his heart was going to melt. And for once in his life he didn't feel afraid to admit it. He would tell the whole world if he could, he didn't care anymore. He didn't care if there was no scientific explanation; all he knew was what he was feeling. All he wanted was her, to be with her, to listen to her, to talk to her, to laugh with her, to kiss her, and to hold her.

He held the blood stained letter in his hands, and felt for the first time in his life that he had somebody worth fighting for. Of course he'd had these feeling's before, but it seemed they had surfaced from a somewhat dark cave in his emotions. He wasn't going to screw his life up, anymore.

"Grissom?" Brass asked softly. He had been watching his friends face as he read the letter, and it didnt look good. Brass had never seen so many emotional play across the mans face, in all the time he'd known him.

"I'm fine Jim" Grissom said. He vowed he was going to find her…

* * *

They had been driving for what seemed like hours in Sara's opinion. Up and up they traveled, past the countless trees and other wildlife covered in snow. Sara felt like she had left the world, and gone to an isolated planet with only Lurie for company. They saw nobody and hardly the slightest sign of life. Lurie had the air conditioning on, and for this Sara was thankful. It was getting _too _cold outside; the trees were frozen over with a slick layer of ice. He sometimes tried to catch a radio station, but from this distance it was hopeless. So Lurie really had no way of knowing if the police were really at his house, which Sara could see made him frustrated.

When the car finally halted with a heart lurching swerve off the road, Sara's eyes flew open. Her vision was instantly pulled towards the foggy window, she could just make out the faint outline of a small pathway leading into the forest. Before she could even register this Lurie was out of the car, slamming his door shut and with amazing speed standing by Sara's door. He opened the door and pulled Sara out of his car by the hair; roughly yanking her to her feet so she was against the car. For the first time upon entering Luire's vechile, Sara realized its model. It was a shiny black convertible, with the roof drawn up.

'_That would have cost a lot of money' _Sara thought numbly.

"Come on" Lurie said pulling her forward. Sara clenched her teeth at the pain which shot through her right leg. So Lurie practically had to drag her down that small path she had spotted. Just a few meters from where the car was parked, he halted. And Sara finally saw her next residence, as he pointed out two new structures. A small shed was assembled next to an even smaller shack, in a clearing closed in on all sides by trees.

"See Debbie. I keep the motorbike in there, like I always used to" Lurie explained pointing to the shed, "Remember when we ran out of petrol one time as we came up here for a trip. And so I put the motorbike in this shed where nobody would find it, to make sure it wouldn't happen again? Remember Debbie?"

Sara grunted in response, to tired to fight with him. She needed to conserve her energy, if she had any hope of making it through the next hour. The bleeding on her various body parts had lessened, but the blood still oozed out slowly, like a reminder death was only a few steps away.

"I'm going back to the house to see if the police are still there" Lurie muttered as he flung open the shack door, "If they are we'll wait out here and try to get out of these mountains. The maybe take a plane to somewhere where they won't ever find us again."

Sara's heart sunk, she really didn't like the sound of that. She remembered something Catherine once told her;

'_It's best to go down before they take you away' she had shrugged, 'When someone's kidnapped for example, it's best to die on the way to the kidnappers destination. Because if they get you where they want you, where nobody can help you, they can do anything to you, torture for instance.'_

Die trying, that was the 'motto' of that story, or so Catherine had said.

"I'm sorry Debbie but I can't risk you getting away" Lurie whispered softly. It was at that moment that Sara knew she was going to die anyway, even without her trying. All she could do was hang on inside her soul, as something hard made contact with her head, not _quite_ blacking out her world forever…

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! My internet was playing up. The funny thing is I was listening to the song 'So Long Goodbye' by Sum 41 when I named this chapter. The song actually relates to this story quite a bit, I didn't realize that until this chapter. Well, thanks for the reviews! They're great! The next chapter will be along sooner than this one, I'm lmost done writing it anyway. Tell me what you think!**

**Apparently Sara Sidle is coming back to CSI in season 9!? Is this true!? And man that new CSI chick is gonna suck, they should bring back Warrick!**

**Sarah**


	11. Escape

**

* * *

****CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Eleven- Escape **

With all the time she had spent in completely numbing darkness, Sara was beginning to become claustrophobic. Well, at least the temperature was helping to block out her pain which was becoming more and more intense. She had only woken up a few moments ago, and panic had seized her when her mind flew to reality. She was still trying to calm her racing heart. She didn't know how long Lurie had been gone, nor how long she had slept. All she knew was that when she was thrown in here, the sun was up and shining through the cracks in the wood. Now it was darker, and much, much colder.

As she lay scrunched up against the wall, Sara wondered whether Grissom or anyone else had found her note. It seemed that Lurie had kept nearly everything in his shed back at his home, and it was easy to find a piece of paper and pen in the jumble. She could feel her heart breaking as she imagined Grissom's face. The reality of not being able to see him again was killing her inside. As she thought Sara felt like her head was being put under a lot of pressure. Like somebody was grabbing it either side, and giving it one good squeeze. This was probably due to the blow Lurie had dealt her with. What did he use anyway? It had definitely felt like metal, she could taste the copper in her mouth.

"Ahhhhh!" she cursed as her bloodied shirt caught on a splinter. It ripped easily through the material, leaving the shirt tattered and stained.

Sara knew this wasn't any good, she could feel her legs growing numb from the weather. And she knew if she didn't do something soon, her system would shut down to the winter air. And what was worse, she could then catch various types of diseases, the worst of them being pneumonia. She had to find a way out of this tiny shack. Slowly hoisting herself to her feel, she tried the rusty door handle…locked. She should have guessed. Feeling her way around by the small cracks of moonlight in the wood, she concluded this place was very small. Three feet by three feet at the most, barley enough space to move around in. She could fell the claustrophobia clouding her senses; she leaned against a wall for support.

"Have to get out of here" she told herself bravely, "Have to get out of here."

Desperately she launched herself at the opposite wooden wall, it creaked a little, but she was too weak. Gasping in pain she slid down the wall and sat with her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. And she cried. It didn't matter that her lungs felt like they were about to puncture from the pressure of her broken ribs. It didn't matter that her clothes were soaked and she was slowly freezing to death. It didn't matter about the terror she felt as she knew Laurie would be back at any moment. She knew she was tough, but she wasn't _that _tough.

'_Let the world wait' _she thought.

So she cried and she cried, until her crying subsided into sobs…

* * *

Kilometers away Laurie smoothly parked his car into a small clearing, making little noise as he locked the doors and headed out into the woods. He knew his way around easily, he had done this many times before. He might as well call himself a wolf, prowling around and spying on everyone like this. He chuckled slightly; he really liked the idea of that. Inn a matter of minutes, he was crouching behind a large rock. A nice view of his backyard spread out below. He gritted his teeth as he saw _them _there, the police. They were swarming around like ants in honey. His anger only increased as he saw Grissom, a lost look on his face as his friends tried to comfort him. They soon gave up and a blonde woman took their place, talking with Griss.

'_Damn that man!' _he thought angrily, _'Damn him!'_

Not even thinking, he pulled out the gun from his back pocket and silently aimed it down at the supervisor. His hand was trembling as he saw Grissom's face line up with the barrel. Should he, or shouldn't he? He knew he would certainly like to! Then he could have Debbie all to himself. But killing him like this would get Vincent no where, only in a cell and Debbie dead when no one found her. And besides even if he did make it back with out capture, Debbie would be stubborn and not believe him. He would much rather present this man's head to her on a platter, have her cringe.

Sighing in frustration he put the gun back in his pocket, and watched as Grissom's friend slowly piled back into the house to collect evidence.

"I'll get you" he said loud enough for his ears to hear. Gritting his teeth, he turned away and marched angrily back into the woods…

* * *

Down below Grissom ignored all the sympathy he was getting from various members of the force. Instead his eyes were focused on a movement of a bush up a nearby hill. He focused and almost yelled out in surprise as he spotted a figure darting behind a large rock. He pretended to be talking to the officers surrounding him, but he could see out the corner of his eye the man glaring at him. Why hadn't anybody else noticed him? Was he the only one?

The officers gradually gathered away from him on Catherine's command.

"Hey Griss" she said sadly, as soon as it was just the two of them "I'm so-"

"Shhh!" he snapped. The man was holding a gun in his direction, about to fire. Grissom felt his body tense.

"Griss, I know it's hard to accept but- what's wrong with you?" she asked as she saw him grow rigid.

"Cath, please pretend to peer about talking to me. There's a man on that hill above us, with a gun" he said quietly.

Catherine's eyes grew wide, "Lurie?" she muttered low. She pretended to say something as she peered about casually, and spotted him!

"Cath" Grissom said, "He's put the gun away now. Take the others, get them In the car and get ready to drive. I have a feeling he had a car nearby."

Catherine nodded worriedly and hurriedly went off to get Nick and Warrick. Grissom stood there quietly staring into space; he could see the gunman retreat slowly back into the forest.

"I'll get you Lurie" he said, he turned his back and went off to his waiting team members…

* * *

'_I have to get out of here' _Sara thought desperately, _'before he comes back! I have to get out of here for Grissom!"_

In a final attempt she stood on her bucking feet. Leaning against the wall with the jarred door, she sighed and with all the strength left in her, she threw herself at the wall and kicked at it. Like a gateway to heaven, the wood split to unravel the darkness of night, illuminated by the full moon. The gentle breeze sent new shivers running down her spine. Now she knew what she had to do. There was a long hole in the wall, but it wasn't wide enough yet. So she kicked some more, the wood shattering like glass.

'_This has to be one old shack for me to be able to kick like this' _she thought.

Just as she was sure she could squeeze through without to much damage, she froze. The low rumble of the convertible could be heard in the silence of the night. It came to park with a squelching sound, the engine shut down and someone slammed the door shut, not bothering to lock it.

"Debbie!" called a man. Sara's heart pounded in her head, he had finally come.

"Debbie? I'm back!" he called again. She heard the jingling of keys as Lurie tried to find the right one.

Sara willed her body to move. In a desperate attempt she threw herself through the hole. A piece of wood the size of a large pocket knife, dug itself into the back of her arm with a crunching noise as she finally broke through the confined space of the shack. Crying out in pain she hobbled away into the forest as fast as her exhausted body allowed her.

"Debbie!" Lurie finally opened the door only to find Sara gone, out into the night. With an evil gleam in his eyes, he quickly strode to his car. Opening it he pulled out a long crowbar he had used to knock her out with, which was hidden under the seat, "You want to act like that" he said loud enough for the fleeing Sara to hear, "Then I'm going to have to hunt you down and teach you a lesson."

Sara's heart pounded with adrenaline. If Lurie didn't kill her when he found her, she would surely die of a heart attack. But the extra leap of her heart made her go faster. Then a thought occurred to her, in this state she would never be able to outrun him. Never…

'_But I could with something much faster' _she realized, forming a plan in her head. Trying not to make any noise, she ducked off to the side of the forest, coming in a half circle around the clearing. She crouched low in the leaves of a plant as she saw Lurie's monstrous height come crashing through the trees. He was wielding the crowbar like a toothpick, like it was a toy.

Sara didn't want to know what he planned to do with it if he found her. Ignoring the pain in her arms, head, legs and sides, she crept toward the shed, watching Laurie disappear further into the trees. Gathering her courage, she darted through the rest of the trees and came to the pathway she had visited hours before. To her left was the convertible, glistening midnight black in the moonlight, beckoning to her. To her right was the shed, and she remembered Lurie telling her he kept his motorbike in there for safe keeping, since he came up here a lot. A motorbike would be much faster, and much less noticeable if Lurie decided to come after her. She had no license for one, but she had been taught when she was younger by her father how to ride. And desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Where are you!?" came a furious scream and the swipe of a heavy object through the air.

'_He's coming!' _Sara thought frantically, _'But which one should I take, the motorbike or the car?'_

* * *

**A/N: So which one should she take the motorbike or the car, I would love to hear all your opinions. Which one sounds more realistic? Which one would you like to read about? Your votes determine the story's outcome in the end weather it be motorbike or convertible, there are like two different endings that go with each one. Either way there's gonna be a wild chase next chap, so get reviewing!**

**Sarah **


	12. Mountain Mayhem

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Twelve- Mountain Mayhem**

After standing there for what seemed like forever Sara finally made her decision. She took the last remaining steps to the car, her heart pounding dramatically in her head. She could still hear Lurie stomping around looking for her and she just prayed he didn't come back to his expensive getaway.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath as she got in. Disappointment etched on her face as she realized the keys weren't in the ignition. Of course they wouldn't be, Lurie had taken them out to open up the shack door. Her brain was signaling warning signs now, what was she going to do!?

"Hotwire" she muttered, "Hotwire the car."

Pulling her seat back, her hands fumbled as she reached below the steering wheel to pull off the panel. It amazingly came away easily and she pulled out the multi coloured wires from underneath it. Sara had no idea which wires would get this car going, she just knew it wasn't a good idea to touch the ends of them, which were hissing with electricity. She remembered not to go with the colour of the wires, unless you knew your colour code for your car.

"Alright Sara think" she told herself, "What about this?"

She merged together a red wire and another pale blue one, they touched together with a spark. Glancing up her face dropped as she saw the windscreen wipers going.

"Damn!" she cursed as the rubber hit the glass, in her opinion a little too noisily. She sat quietly for a moment, but thankfully she could still hear Lurie fuming in the forest. This time she tried merging together the previous red wire and another yellow one, and in the moment the wires sparked Sara cursed the day she was born. The car alarm went off.

"Oh damn!" she cursed bumping her head against the steering wheel, as the loud ringing of the alarm disturbed the silence. There was no turning back now.

"So you're stealing my car!" came a scream from the woods, "I don't think so!"

Sara felt her adrenaline kick its overload point. Quick as she could she pulled the wires apart and if there was a god, prayed that her next choice of wires worked. They did as the spark lit up and the alarm died, the engine rumbled to life.

"Oh thank you god!" she sighed, letting out the breath she had been holding since she left the shack. Hurriedly easing back up on the seat, she slid it forward, slammed her door shut and threw her foot on the pedal as she saw Lurie's tall shadow lunge for the convertible.

"I'll get you!" he shouted after the fleeing scarlet headlights, "Sara."

* * *

Sara had no doubt that he _would_ eventuallyget her. But it was better to try to escape the spider than to be eaten like a fly under its mercy. Her pulse returned to a slow beat as she drove on. He would have a hard time getting to her now, she was far ahead. Sara had lost track of the time, she could have been driving for two minutes or two hours, she would have had no idea. Just as she eased back into her seat, the warm air conditioning adding comfort for her pain, she saw something flicker in the revision mirror. She glanced at it. There was nothing but the twisting road and the dark trees darting through the mirror then disappearing as the car sped down the lane.

"Paranoid" she voiced aloud, never the less she increased her speed slightly.

She was driving for at least another ten minutes when it happened again. She glanced at it, and this time her jaw hit the ground. She knew he would follow her, but for god's sake didn't this man ever give up! It seemed not. Lurie was completely clad in a black bikers outfit, riding a matching motorbike. Sara watched as he tilted the shiny bike to the side and drove up to meet her window. She nearly had a heart attack as she saw the crowbar clutched in his right hand. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was grinning. Without hesitation Lurie swung the weapon at her window, and Sara screamed as the car lurched to the left, when she looked up again the window was cracked.

She could almost see him frown. He swung again, this time catching onto the convertible roof. Ovusiouly it wasn't made of an expensive material, because the crowbar made a large tear, like the claw mark of a dinosaur in it. The cool air hit Sara instantly, and she shivered in fear and discomfort.

"Stop the car Debbie!" came Lurie's muffled shout, "Or you're going to make me do something I don't have to do!"

"Dream on!" Sara screamed back. She gritted her teeth, took control of the steering wheel and sharply jerked it to the left. Sparks flew as metal crushed on metal, and Sara felt the car vibrate in protest as it smashed up against the motorcycle. The sheer force sent the two verchiles darting apart a few meters from each other. Lurie was the fastest to regain control, and he literally drove the motorbike into Sara's side of the convertible. The _crunch _of metal was screeching in Sara's ears and she could feel something damp running down her left arm. She looked down and to her horror saw that a piece of Lurie's bike had broken through the door and was now sticking into her arm. She couldn't feel the pain yet, but as they saw you'll feel that one in the morning. Well, she certainly would. With a gasp of shock she pulled her arm back to herself, there was so much blood! She could feel her head spinning with the thought.

'_Don't fall now Sara!' _she thought to herself, _'Don't fall now, or it'll all be over! Please don't! I need help…'_

She felt her world spinning, hardly aware of her foot dropping down onto the pedal. The car was driving at full speed; the colours surrounding her seemed to be turning into a stretched blur. She didn't see Lurie pull his engine away from the car. She wasn't aware of the upcoming tree planted solidly into the earth, steadily preparing to meet the poor convertible. She had no idea that her last thoughts on this earth might be… _'Grissom'_

* * *

**A:N/ Sorry this is a lame chapter, but its winter over here in Australia and where I come from it's been raining for days. I think I'm coming down with the flu or something, I feel like sleeping and never getting up. Well there will be GSR in the next up coming chapter, which will probably be coming tomorrow or the day after that, I'm nearly done with it. Anyway have fun reading!**

**Sarah**


	13. Bury Me In Black

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Thirteen- Bury Me In Black**

Grissom slammed his foot on the pedal as soon as his three CSI's were in the car. Not even bothering with his seat belt. The confused faces of Brass and Greg darting by the front window.

"Jesus Griss!" Nick cursed as he flipped backward into Warrick.

"Nick man how much do you weigh?"

"I don't know!"

"Guys will you shut up!" Grissom snapped.

"Sorry" they both mumbled, managing to climb onto their seats and buckle up their seat belts.

"Griss what is all this about?" Nick asked looking around for something to hold on to, Grissom's driving was actually scaring him, "Catherine just told us to get in the car now."

"Yeah and why'd you take so long?" Catherine asked him from the passenger's seat, "We were in here for ages before you showed."

"The damn Sheriff wanted to give me one of his useless speeches!"

"Woah Griss I never thought you'd talk about him like that" Warrick said sarcastically, clinging onto the seat in front of him like a cat.

"Man this is like riding the 'Wild Mouse'" Nick commented, "I've just had a sense of Dey-Ja-Vu."

"Look whose following us" Catherine said eyeing the revision mirror. All of them but Grissom looked back. Brass and Greg where behind them, in a black Tahoe their faces masked with confusion. At that moment Grissom's mobile went off. Cursing he took one hand off the steering wheel and slid it out of his pocket, flipping it open.

"What?" he snarled.

"Grissom, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Brass asked.

"Listen I saw Vincent Lurie back there" he explained, "He took off, and I was just about to follow him when the good old Sheriff interrupted me. Now I'm trying to follow him!"

"You saw Luire?" Nick and Warrick asked together. Grissom nodded in their direction.

"Alright" Brass said, "We're gonna follow you bunch, just to make sure nothing happens. Go get him!"

Grissom hung up and put the cell back in his pocket, returning his hand back to the wheel.

"Wait, so we're following this creep" Nick said, "But how do we know which way he went, since you were delayed?"

Grissom frowned as he saw a fork in the road a few meters ahead. One road going left, the other going to the right. He bit his lip and looked toward the others, "Which way?"

"Go left."

Nerves jumping in his gut, he did as he was told. He went left.

* * *

Lurie cursed and dragged Sara from under the wreckage of his convertible. Sara felt the skin tear at her legs; the man was going to rip her legs from their sockets!

"Ahhh!" she groaned, her head flopping onto his chest. She could feel something wet on her forehead, and a sickening metallic taste in her mouth. More than a couple of her bones were poking her through her skin. She felt her head spin around in circles as Lurie finally unhooked her legs out from under the crushed steering wheel. Gingerly she reached up a hand and felt her forehead. She wasn't surprised to find her hand come back blood coated; she had probably hit her head against the front window pretty hard. She couldn't remember every detail about what had happened, and trying to remember only made her head thump in agony. All she wanted to do was to float back to sleep and drown in the everlasting darkness.

"Look at what you did!" Lurie spat, "Do you know how long it took to find that car!"

He threw her down and yelled at her to stay there while he went back to his bike. Obediently and utterly exhausted Sara lay in the snow, her beaten and bruised body shaking. If someone was to look down on Sara in those few moments, they would have seen a battered woman in a field of white. The area around her body stained red against that white. Sara knew the chase was over. She would never get away from Lurie, she would die.

Lurie returned from out of know where and disturbed Sara's peaceful view of the sky, "You, get up Now! We have to get going."

He slid his foot under her back and rolled her over. Sara ignored him, instead scrambling on her hands and knees to nowhere in particular, anything to get away from this monster. Lurie was over to her at once, his foot stepping down hard on her leg. Sara heard it snap before she felt it. And when she did, she couldn't help but scream in agony.

"I didn't have to do that Debbie!" he said after she finished sobbing in pain, "But you are always so stubborn."

He nudged her broken leg with the toe of his shoe. Sara was surprised to find the ear piercing scream bubbling from her mouth. She leaned over and threw up, a hot red liquid spilling out onto the snowy floor. With shock she realized she was throwing up her own blood, this wasn't good.

"See Debbie" Lurie stressed, "See what you've gone and done! You're a nurse, and you know this isn't good!" He begun pacing back and fourth on the spot, "What to do? What to do!"

Sara moaned in pain as she felt her consciences slip. All she wanted to do was lay back and let the snow ease the pain, eventually it would take her to a better place. But Lurie wouldn't allow it.

"Stay awake!" he yelled, leaping over to her and slapping her hard in the face. This resulted in another session of throwing up blood, "You're being so difficult, maybe I should take you back home to Vegas and burry you in the coffin like the last time just for fun?"

Sara's eyes widened, this man had lost his marbles! Her mind worked quickly over the panic and pain; "Lurie, you have to take me to the hospital!" she said quickly. Lurie wheeled about to face her. With renewed courage she continued, "I'm a nurse and I know all this blood isn't good, so if you take me to the hospital they could fix me up and we could both escape from Vegas…alive."

Lurie considered these words, "Yes, yes we could. They could fix you up and then we could run away. The two of us, together!" he glanced over at Sara who gave him an encouraging nod, "Just wait here! I'm going to get the bike ready!"

Sighing in relief she slumped back in the snow as the sound of Lurie retreating back to the bike, rang in her ears. She didn't know how the motorbike would get them both to safety but finally she had persuaded Lurie to help her with at least _one _thing! Sara planned on going to the hospital, and sneaking off to the team once he was out of sight. Or maybe she should claim Lurie was her mentally abusive husband and the authorities would do something. At this thought her eyes swelled up in tears. Abusive husband wasn't even the term. She wondered what Grissom and the team were doing, were they worried about her in the slightest bit. Were they working to look for her, or had they given up? At the thought of Grissom Sara's heart clenched in pain.

'_No stop thinking about him!'_ her mind yelled, _'Not now, don't be weak Sara; at least don't be for him!'_

Sara cut off the emotion running through her body and instead focused on the reproaching footsteps of Lurie, who seemed to be dragging something heavy on the road along with him. Curiosity got the better of her and Sara opened her eyes only for them to widen further, her heart skipping to her throat. Lurie was grinning darkly, and dragging a long metal shovel behind him. Where the hell had that come from?

"You think I'm that dumb Debbie" he said calmly, "You think I wouldn't notice the hope in your voice. Maybe if I took you to the hospital you could claim I beat you up, or you could get away from me and have me arrested. No, you'll never get the chance!"

He leapt forward before Sara could move from her crumpled position and dragged her away from the road further into the surrounding forest. Sara tried to put up a struggle, but her body greatly protested to that fact. Her legs dragged heavily in the snow, making deep marks in which you could actually see the ground. Lurie easily out powered her with no effort, now Sara was under his mercy, which had almost evaporated. He found a spot where thick snow covered the ground like fog and roughly threw her down. She landed hard hitting her already beaten head, and groaned.

"Why?" she asked softly, as she heard the shovel crunch into the hardening snow.

"You never loved me Debbie" Lurie muttered, "Maybe once you did, but you had to ruin things as always."

"But I'm not Debbie Marlin, you killed Debbie" Sara said weakly, "My name is Sara Sidle. And I have a life, I have friends and I had family and I could have had a family. I've got a reason to live, why are you doing this?"

Lurie snorted; "Because to me you are Debbie and you always will be, and Debbie deserves to die for what she did to me" He kept shoveling the snow out to a shallow grave.

"Maybe she does!" Sara said, "Maybe she doesn't. But Lurie I had someone I love do that to me to, even if it wasn't as bad. I know he loves me, but he's afraid, because there's so much to risk. And he thinks that when he gets older I'll leave him for someone younger. Truth be told I would never do that to him, but he keeps turning me down and love shouldn't hurt this much!"

Lurie stopped shoveling to turn around to look at her, "You love that man from the CSI lab I know…Gil Grissom right?" seeing Sara wince at his name he shook his head, "That man is pathetic, I remember speaking to him in the interrogation room. He can't think for himself when it comes to love!"

"Just like you?" Sara asked closing her eyes, "At least he didn't murder me."

Lurie was silent as he picked her up; the snow around her was stained red with her blood. He roughly pushed her into the very shallow grave and hoisted up his shovel, Sara gasped when the first shove full of snow landed on her stomach pinning her down. Lurie began packing up the snow around her slowly, when he was done Sara thought she must look like a large snowman. Only her head and shoulders were sticking out of the large pile of cold ice. Sara could at least feel some of the pain fade away into her almost unconscious state; she knew she was going to die, the freezing cold snow isolating her from the rest of the world. She was numb.

Lurie stood up gathering his shovel in one hand; he began to walk back to the motorbike. His footsteps stopped as he turned to say one final thing to her, "No he didn't kill you, but I'll do it for him. Goodbye…Sara."

As Sara watched him disappear, she slipped from her conscience state into that darker world, that much darker world where she could feel no hope...

* * *

**TBC...**

**A/N: Well, the sun has finally showed its face in the last couple of days. And I've been in bed, great…**

**Well tell me what you think, and thanks guys for all your reviews. Honestly, it goes a long way. Well, have fun reading… I certainly have been.**

**Sarah **


	14. Fallen Butterfly

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Fourteen- Fallen Butterfly **

"Well, what does the damn map say!?"

"I don't know!" Nick snapped frustrated.

"Here Nicky, it's upside down" Warrick said, he reached over and flipped the map the right way. Nick squinted at it, tracking their location.

"Oh shit…"

"What!" Grissom growled impatiently. They were parked along the edge of the road, Brass and Greg behind them. They had been driving for 20 minutes, and with no success had they found anything. A nagging in the back of Grissom's head had told him to pull over and check where they actually were. Something wasn't right. He felt like he wasn't seeing something that was right in front of him. But he couldn't put his finger on it.

"There are so many roads here I don't know where the hell we are. I uh…think we might be lost."

"Oh give me that!" Catherine snatched the map from Nick and opened it up like a news paper.

Grissom sighed with impatience. This was time they were wasting! Time they didn't have, God only knew what was happening to Sara. He suddenly heard a car door slam shut and hurried footsteps approaching them. Through the revision mirror he spotted Brass and Greg making their way towards his car. He unrolled the window.

"What's going on?" Brass asked, "We've been parked here for the last two minutes without any indication of moving."

"We're trying to figure out where we are" Catherine said distantly, her head buried in the lines on the map.

"Why?" Greg asked.

"Ask Grissom over here" Warrick sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Griss?" both men outside asked.

But Grissom was far from their conversation. His heart was pounding dramatically in his head, and he was sure they could actually hear it loud and clear. Grissom's eyes were glued on a single spot outside, unmoving. Was it just a glimmer reflecting off the moon to the snow, or was what he had just seen…blood.

"Griss?" Greg asked uncertainly.

Grissom was in a trance. He slowly opened the car door, Brass and Greg backing away as they realized his intention. Was it also a part of Grissom's imagination or were there tyre treads leading to and from that speck of blood he had spotted on the leaves of a tree?

"Griss, what's wrong?" Catherine asked abandoning the map.

Grissom ignored each of their questions and walked up to the tree. His eyes growing wide with the discovery that the substance was actually blood.

"Is he hallucinating?" Nick asked in a quite voice. The rest of them shook their heads in wonder as they watched their boss take a swab off the tree.

"Griss, what did you find?" Brass said slowly, approaching his friend and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Blood."

Grissom's eyes traveled further into the forest and he almost had a heart attack as he saw it. There was a shed and shack, placed directy next to each other. The shack was nothing but a pile of jumbled wood, the bitter snow already coating it. Underneath it however…

"Sara!" Grissom yelled, sprinting for it as he saw blood pooling around the mess.

The others head's darted up and they hurried to catch up with Grissom, their hearts in their mouths. When they got there they found the exact same scene Grissom did, only now Grissom himself was pulling through the wreckage. Nick, Warrick and Greg were quick to help him.

"She's not here!"

They had reached the solid ground, with no Sara. Grissom angrily punched the ground, startling the rest of them.

"What the hell!" Catherine yelled, "But this, this area is…" she looked around. She hated feeling this helpless.

"What about this?" Brass went over to the shed and un-jammed the door. The others gathered around, "Looks like it housed some sort of vehicle."

"I'm betting something small" Warrick added, "Motorbike maybe?"

"Well, no Sara and no Luire" Nick said, "He got away with her after all."

"He's not going far" Catherine snarled, "Not if I can help it!"

"But wait" Warrick said, "If Sara was injured, how the hell did he get away with her on a motorbike. And how did Lurie get from his house to here_ with _Sara, if the motorcycle was at this shed all along? From what we know he only owned a car."

His question hung in the air, like the many clouds which hung over their heads spilling the many icicles of snow.

"Well then why did he take both the motorbike and car?" Nick asked, "I mean one person cant drive two engines, he wouldnt have trusted Sara, incase she tried to escape."

"He didn't take both of them!" Catherine said her eyes lighting up. The others turned to her, about to bombard her with questions.

"Just think for a second, that the reason this shack collapsed is because Sara escaped and hijacked a vehicle" Catherine thought for a second, "Maybe the reason both the motorbike _and _Lurie's car have vanished is because…"

"Sara took one and went on a wild chase, which means-"Greg said.

"We're not too late" Grissom finished.

* * *

"Alright everyone get in the car!" Grissom yelled five minutes later. They had contacted the sheriff and given him the exact location of where the next scene was, for now all they wanted to do was find Sara. This crime scene wouldn't help; they all already knew she had been here. As fast as possible they piled back into the Tahoe's, and soon both cars were speeding down the road traveling at a forbidding rate.

"Hey, guys does anybody smell smoke?" Nick asked a couple of minutes later.

"Yeah, I was just about to say the same th-' oh my god!" Catherine's eyes grew wide as she spotted the convertible wrapped around a thick tree. Debris lay everywhere, some of it smoking but a fair bit of it still burning.

"Oh shit, Sara!" Nick yelled ripping off his seat belt and leaping out of the car.

"Sara!" Warrick yelled following.

'_Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead' _Grissom begged the heavens as he followed the rest of them. He didnt think he could face finding her, only for it to be in vain. They all gathered around the car, and begun pulling away at the wreck slowly. Greg's face was pale as he faced the shattered front window. There was blood all over it, but no Sara inside.

"Guys she's not here either."

"Well then were the hell is she!" Grissom yelled kicking the side of the metal heap. The others sighed in disappointment and frustration, their minds melting with confusion. Sara hadn't been at any of the scenes, had Lurie killed her already? Had he somehow gotten away with her? Or were both scenes non-related to Sara's kidnapping? They were all deep in thought, continuous conclusions swirling around in their brains.

"Well, maybe there's a clue at the other crime scene" Catherine said heavily.

"I guess we should check" Nick said glumly.

"Lets just all get back to the car, call for this" Grissom gestured to the half-sized convertible, "To be taken away and head back. It's dark and cold, and Lurie's probably got her with him. You guys should get some rest, you've all been working non stop."

The others hung their heads, their breath visible in the cool air. Utter disappointment was all each of them could feel as they headed back to the cars, Grissom was the only one left standing by the warm fires around him.

"God damn it Sara! Where are you?"

* * *

A few meters away from where Grissom stood, lying under the heap of solidifying snow Sara's eyes fluttered open for the last time that night. She smiled as she saw_ him_ through the thick protection of bushes and trees that hid her. He was standing in those bright lights, the ones which didn't seem to die down.

'Was he her angel?' she thought, groggily.

She was dieing and he was here to save her. Or was he? She watched through the slits in her eyes as he shook his head in disappointment and turned to leave. She turned her head back to the sky, and she could make out the stars, sparkling brightly.

"Fallen Butterfly" she muttered as loud as she could, one final time…

* * *

**A/N: Hey! Well thanks for all your reviews. I'm now lying in bed, with a sore back. I was doing front flips and back flips on my trampoline and I landed a bit off edge, literally. But I'm getting better at them. **

**Anyway, the story isn't over yet, but I hope you guys like it. So hang around, the next chapter will be up soon… Tell me what you think!**

**Sarah **


	15. Sleep

**

* * *

****CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Fifteen: Sleep**

Grissom's ear twitched and his feet froze in place. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? He turned on his heel and peered about. The crash site, the burning debris, the tall snow covered trees, the snow blanketing the ground, the thick bushes leading further in.

"Sara?" he asked the quite air, but still there was no response. He stepped forward toward the bushes, snow crunching under his shoe…closer…closer…

"Hey Griss!" called a voice stopping him in his tracks. He turned around to see the rest of his team gathered around the two Tahoe's, confused expressions on their faces.

"Yeah?"

"You coming?"

Grissom frowned, why wouldn't he be coming?

'_I am a Fallen Butterfly' _

That sentence echoed around inside of his head. So it was hard to tell if he had just imagined those words. But were they really spoken out loud or was it a phantom? He just guessed this was the result of not enough sleep. He didn't know why he was giving up all of a sudden, something inside him told him not to, it warned him. But something inside him subjected his soul to doom.

'_I'm just being paranoid' _he tried to convince himself. But it still didn't shake the feeling he had inside. Shaking his head and rubbing his temples, he took one final glance at the shrubs and turned his back. Striding over to his waiting friends.

"Grissom!" came the unmistakable groan from beyond the bushes.

Grissom froze, he was sure any minute his heart would be exiting his body one way or another, it was beating too fast. He turned around and there was no mistake this time, it was Sara. So he ran, he ran for those bushes and when he reached them roughly pulled them aside. The scene before him made him gasp.

Sara buried in three feet of snow, her lips as pale as chalk and her face deathly white.

"Grissom" she whispered and smiled as best she could.

"Sara!" he sobbed dropping to his knees near her arm and taking her head in his hands. He winced; it was as cold as the surrounding snow. It was also wet, and he thought this was just because of the snow, but he was proven wrong as he pulled one hand away and it came back a pale red.

"Griss, I'm so sorry" her voice was raspy and barely audible, "But if anything else happens, I…"

"No nothing else will happen. I'm going to help you Sara, I'm going to protect you! I'll never let you go! Please, just stay with me!" he cried.

She smiled at his words. In the years she'd known him, all she wanted to hear were those words. And all in a manner of seconds he had said them, just like that. It was funny what life threatening situations could do to people.

"Call an ambulance!" he roared to the others, who were rushing to his side. Nick, Warrick, Catherine, Brass and Greg halted weakly as they saw their friend in the snow. And then everything turned into a blur as they all begun moving. Catherine, Warrick and Nick were on the ground around Sara, Warrick and Nick pulling the snow off her as softly as they could, Catherine by her head, stroking her hair and whispering words of encouragement. Her tears lightly hitting the younger woman's face, and becoming one of the warmest things Sara's hazy mind could remember (expect for Grissom's body of course).

Greg stood still, rooted to the spot. His eyes were glued to the limp figure of his friend as he absorbed everything happening all at once. How could someone do this to Sara Sidle? To Greg, Sara had always been strong physically and mentally, she was the independent and encouraging figure who always seemed to know what she was doing. Now here she was stripped down to her last dignity and pride, buried in feet of frozen water. It wasn't right to his eyes; he couldn't comprehend or imagine who would ever do this. Brass saw the pale face and horrified expression on Greg's face and begun rubbing his back. His other hand holding the cell phone to his ear, it was jerking that violently he almost couldn't hear the speaker on the other end of the line.

"We need an ambulance" he begun.

"Common, get it off her leg" Nick was saying to Warrick, who quickly did as he was told and brushed away the remaining snow.

"Are there any emergency supplies in the Tahoe?" he asked Nick.

"I think so."

"I'll go get them."

He glanced at Sara and quickly scooted off to the back of the Tahoe.

He threw open the boot, "Supplies, Supplies. Common!" he cursed, "There you are!"

He reached over and pulled a red bag out of its hiding place, not even bothering to slam the boot shut in his haste.

"Here use these" he said to Catherine throwing her the bag. She caught it and opened it up, bringing out various objects.

"Oh shit, Catherine come look at this!" Nick said becoming her over. Catherine gently laid Sara's head in Grissom's lap and went over to Nick, gasping as she saw what he was pointing at.

"How long would that be?"

"I don't know" Nick said, letting a tear escape, "But I'm willing to bet that it came from that shack we visited."

"Alright well" Catherine pulled on her leather gloves, mentally cursing what was coming Sara's way, "Nick get everything ready. We need to get it out and seal the wound or it could become highly infected."

He nodded and Catherine lent over Sara's head so she was in her view, "Sara, you have a very large piece of wood sticking out of your arm. Remember how you got it?"

Sara's eyes fluttered open and she nodded her head as best she could, "I…I know."

"We have to get it out, or further infection is a risk. I'm so sorry, but there _will _be a few more moments of pain ahead of you. Then I promise it will all disappear."

Sara smiled, "Use…used to it."

Catherine nodded, and went back to the wood; Grissom gripped Sara's hand tightly.

"I'll uh… go get some blankets for Sar" Warrick said, he wasn't sure he could endure to hear Sara scream in pain. Greg was over by Brass his hands over his ears, Brass still arguing with the ambulance to hurry up.

Catherine took a deep breath, "Okay ready Nick" the younger man nodded his face pale, "Alright, one, two…three."

Catherine gave a quick tug and the wood came out, not even close to smooth. Sara made a small chocking noise, the kind that people make when they've just been stabbed and jerked. Nick moved in and wiped the wound clean, washing it with disinfectant and wrapping it tightly with a bandage. For now it was all they could do. Warrick sensing it was over, hurried back with a pile of blankets and laid them out over Sara. Grissom was stroking her hair, the way he had seen Catherine do it.

Sara struggled to keep her eyes open, "Catherine, Nick, Warrick…Grissom. Thank you all for everything. I'm so sorry, for everything…"

She fought to keep her eyes open.

"Don't say that!" Nick hissed his bottom lip trembling, "Say that when your better! And then we can all listen."

"No" Sara said quietly so only they could hear, "If anything more happened…"

"Nothing else is going to happen to you Sar, and we're gonna make sure of it!" Warrick said fiercely, his heart melting.

"But if I don't make it…"

"Don't you dare say that Sara Sidle!" Catherine threatened, "Never say that! We're all sorry to."

Sara smiled, her whole body was trembling,"You don't need to be sorry for anything. But if I die, I just wanted to thank you. I love you guys."

Catherine, Nick and Warrick smiled through their tears, and vowed this wasn't the last time they would be hearing their friend say those words. Each of them reached in for a group hug, Sara grinning.

"Ambulance is here" Warrick said leaning up. While the rest of his team was occupied with the large white truck, Grissom glanced down at Sara and Sara looked back deep into his eyes.

"Griss, I'm…so sorry" she croaked.

"No don't be" he said letting the tears fall, "Please Sara stay with us."

She smiled, "I love you Griss."

"I love you to Sara" he leant down and gave her a gentle kiss, savoring the moment. He pulled away and saw her battling to stay awake.

"Sleep Sara" he whispered as her eye lids fluttered shut. Once again she fell unconscious, her completely exhausted body unable to take in any more. But her heart felt lighter somehow, her friends had found her…

**TBC…**

**A/N: Well there you are they found her! But the story will end in another couple of chapters so stick around! Thanks for all your reviews and encouragement. Yeah my back is fine now, I can do flips no problem. All it took was a little getting used to. **

**Tell me your thoughts on this chapter!**

**Sarah**


	16. Redfern Blockade

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Sixteen: Redfern Blockade **

"Grissom!" Catherine yelled from down the white hallway of 'Redfern Hospital'. The man in a thick black coat merely glanced in the direction of the shout, then went back to staring out the window. His tired eyes adjusting to the bright sun outside. It had nearly been a week since they had found Sara, and still there was no improvement. What was worse, she had fallen into a coma. Those hits to the head had proved lethal, as well as the many cuts, bruises and slashes she had gained. The first nurse to have spotted her had stared in shock and horror, almost feinting at the sight of her mangled body and saying that she was unsure if it was a corpse or living human. Grissom had stayed at the hospital through it all, and hadn't seen Sara since he found her in the snow. She had required several major surgeries, but while Grissom had waited with the others he couldn't seem to forget the scene which still haunted his every waking moment;

_Gil knelt in the snow, the white around him stained red with blood._

"_Sara?" he asked as the bright lights of the ambulance blared through his vision. The woman in his arms had her eyes closed, and Grissom feared that he wouldn't see them open ever again. Everything around them seemed to slow down in time._

"_Grissom, please" Sara said softly her sore lips managing to form her words, "Don't ever regret anything."_

"_But I do Sara" he whispered, "And I always will."_

"_Please don't."_

"_But I can't-"_

"_Yes, you can" Sara said firmly,_

"_What are those lights?" she asked annoyed, and to his relief her eyes fluttered open._

"_It's the ambulance, we're going to take you to the hospital" Grissom said._

_Sara's eyes widened in fear, the first emotion that Grissom had seen on her face (besides pain) since he had found her._

"_No don't!" she said quickly, "__He'll __find me there. He will hurt me again, please don't." _

_She began to shiver in his embrace. Grissom hugged her tighter, careful not to hurt her._

"_Shhhh" he soothed, "I promise he wont ever hurt you again, honey I'll protect you. Don't worry, please calm down."_

_But despite his plea Sara shook more violently, a tear sliding down her face. Grissom could feel his heart breaking as he saw the tear, his every fiber wanting to protect her and most importantly help her._

"_I will stay with you, I'll be there with you" he said._

"_Promise?"_

"_I promise" he said gazing into her chocolate eyes, and melting. She curled back into his embrace, but seconds later she was taken from him by the ambulance officers. He felt like he had been punched in the chest. He stood up and glanced down at his jacket, red with blood. His gut lurched as he heard the stretcher being pulled away, his feet racing to keep up with it as it entered the back of the ambulance…_

"Grissom?" Catherine said again, snapping him out of his day dreaming. She knelt down in front of her friend and gave him a light tap on the knee. He jolted to face her, and wasn't surprised to see the worry etched in the look she gave him. He was surprised however to see the tender redness around her eyes, had she been crying? He knew Catherine and Sara had never gotten along well in the past, but had something changed in the older woman?

"You alright?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah"

"Has there been any news?"

"Not yet" he rubbed his tired face with one hand. His head was throbbing with what was sure to become a migraine.

"You haven't been home yet?"

It wasn't a question, literally. The look her gave her made her want to shut up, but she knew if she didn't persist something worse would happen.

"You need to go home and refresh. Eat, shower, drink and at least _try _to sleep" she sighed as he looked away, back to the sun. He knew Catherine wouldn't be giving up easily, and he was too tired to fight it.

"Alright fine, but only when the doctors update us on how she is."

Catherine smiled, "Fine. I'll come along to your house and make sure you _do_ refresh, then we'll both drive back."

Grissom rolled his eyes, but gave a small smile, "Thanks Cath."

"Any time."

* * *

"Okay" Nick said fingering the map, "So we're at the spot now?"

"Yeah" Warrick replied, "Because of the snow, they stopped all cars entering and exiting through the mountain passages. But now it's warming up here and the storms have stopped, they're letting people through, one at a time though we still gotta check for Lurie. So each car goes through a security check."

"You damn right we gotta check" Nick said curtly, "Look at all the traffic here!"

The car stopped and both men got out, slamming their doors shut. There were vehicle's lining up and down both roads like a major traffic jam. Passengers honked their horns impatiently, people shouted over to each other or at each other, and officers scurried about checking each car that went through their check points.

"Warrick, Nick!" Brass called pushing his way over to join the two men, "Good timing, we're gonna need you guys."

"We're do you want us?"

"Start over there" Brass said pointing to another line full of impatient cars with only one officer at their head, "Oh, and if any of them get impatient don't get too worked up. We had one guy in a massive fight, injured several people."

Nick and Warrick nodded their understanding, and begun to turn around.

"Oh and when you get there send that officer to me" Brass said pointing to the lone officer controlling the line, "Poor thing's been working non stop I noticed. Besides I've got something else for him to do."

"Alright"

* * *

The officer far to the left of the car lineup pulled the cap down lower over his head. He stared at the two new men approaching him; one was taller than the other with dark skin and one wild afro. The other had sharper features, white skin and a handsome face. The only two things the men had in common though were the matching uniform's they were wearing, each with their name tag.

_Stokes _and _Brown_.

The officer raised his eyebrow as he saw the '_crime scene investigators' _label printed on their uniforms right next to it. So they were with the crime lab? What were they doing here?

"Officer Brass wants to see you Mr. uh…" Nick squinted trying to get a better read of the man's name tag, "Mr. Bearly. I think you're off juty."

The man nodded, "Thank you sir."

"No problem."

The officer strode past the two men before they could see his face, heading for Brass. Once he located him he cleared his throat to catch the man's attention.

"Sir, you asked to see me?" he asked smoothly.

"Yes, I just noticed you'd been working all that time. And this crowd can get to your head" Brass said gesturing out to the noisy traffic, "You may be dismissed Mr. uh… Bearly. I don't think I've ever hear of you before, you new?"

"Yes sir just moved out from California."

"CA hey?" Brass said, "Pretty nice place, well welcome to Las Vegas."

"Thank you sir."

"Before you head off" Brass added, "I would appreciate it if you could drop off some papers I have, at 'Redfern Hospital'. Just leave them with the receptionist, and she'll pass them on to their owner."

"Of course sir."

"Thanks" Brass said, handing the man a bundle of papers. The man nodded, and walked away.

'_What a blunt guy' _Brass thought as he watched the retreating uniform, _'Weird.'_

Brass felt something tug at his thoughts, his senses. He tried to put his finger on what was bothering him, but it just wouldn't reveal itself.

"Sir!" called another officer, bringing Jim out of his thoughts. Well, nothing seemed wrong. All that mattered now was that Sara be brought back to full health and Lurie put in a cell behind bars. If he was going to do that, Brass needed his full attention on the task at hand. So without a second thought, he turned to the more pressing matters begging for his attention…

* * *

**TBC…**

**A/N: Sorry if this wasn't the best chapter, but the story will continue soon. Thanks as usual to all my reviewer's, you guys rock! Well have a great time reading. Oh by the way 'Redfern Hospital' isn't an actual place as far as I know, I made it up (I hope), just to let you know. **

**Sarah**


	17. One Way Trip To Heaven

**

* * *

****CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Seventeen- One Way Trip To Heaven **

Mr. Bearly looked down at the name tag on his chest. It was an ugly thing, maybe just as ugly as the uniform he had on. Why would anyone ever want to wear it, let alone work for the people who forced you to dress in it? Bearly couldn't help but grin as he took his eyes off the road for just a second to look at the bundle of papers on the passenger's seat. These were his key to revenge, sweet revenge. And all those papers were about was some kind of report on their findings in the blockage, which was…nothing.

The man smiled as he spotted the familiar lights of Vegas, like a dime in the night. He'd be there soon enough, at his destination.

'_This is gonna be fun' _he thought savagely.

* * *

Nick sighed as another car approached him, impatient to get back on its journey. He gritted his teeth as he saw who was inside.

"Man what is wrong with you people!?" demanded a dark South African teen, "You got me sittin' here for over an hour and now you're tellin' me you need to strip search my car. No way brother, that ain't happen' tonight!"

Nick rolled his eyes; he was getting pretty fed up with this entire crowd.

"Warrick!" he called, "Come and deal with this one, I need a break."

Warrick smiled as he saw who Nick was trying to deal with, teens _could _be so uncooperative sometimes. But so could an old white couple who refused to budge out of their car, a stubborn old white couple who made Warrick accidentally drop his cell phone in a puddle of rain. Another thing, (besides his dead cell phone) that was being uncooperative, was the weather. It was raining hard and fast, a storm was coming.

"I got this" he said patting Nick on the back.

Nick shook his head and retreated back to their Tahoe and out of the rain. They had been searching for what seemed like forever, the sun had even grown impatient and gone down. Now they were working in the cold, dark, wet rainy night which was making him want to go home and curl up in bed. Lurie hadn't been found yet and Nick was sure the criminal had found a way to get past the blockade and to his freedom; he hadn't been sighted for too long. Frustrated Nick slammed his fist into the side of a nearby tree. It budged a little but stayed firm.

Suddenly the moon came out from beneath the clouds, and Nick spotted something glinting in the light a little further off in the forest. Frowning he followed the light, stomping on leaves and twigs, ignoring the blaring noise of the blockade behind him. What he saw made him take a step back, there was an abandoned black motorbike lying in the dirt. A little further away was the body of a man in his late 50's with a mat of graying hair. He wore an officer uniform and as Nick drew closer he could see his identity badge had been ripped off.

"What the-?" Nick saw the reason for the older man's death, there was a long rusted crowbar sticking out of his back, blood dripping from its tip. Pulling a latex glove from his pocket, Nick pulled it on and automatically went for the officer's pocket. He found only one item, a wallet. He frowned, confused, as he read the name on the man's identity tag;

_Todd Bearly _

"Bearly?" he voiced out loud, "Bearly…" He racked his brains, where had he heard that name before? His eyes grew very wide as he remembered, and the last pieces of the puzzle clicked in the Texan's brain. This was why they couldn't find Lurie!

"Oh god Sara" he whispered…

* * *

Sara's condition was improving, and she was making an astonishing recovery. According to the doctor she had woken from her coma, her memory was a little fuzzy, but she could remember everything 'important in her life', or that's how she put it when the nurse questioned her. She was now sleeping her exhausted body needing rest. Grissom and Catherine thanked the doctor as he finished giving them a list of her injuries and walked away back to work.

"Well, at least she's alright" Catherine said happily, "Now lets go and get you refreshed. And don't say 'no' because I agreed that instead of taking you home you could just get something to eat, and come back up."

Grissom grumbled unhappily, he didn't want to leave Sara. Not now, not when the nurse could walk around the corner any moment and tell him that Sara was awake and asking for him. But he had made a promise, and he usually kept those he made. Hesitantly he agreed and reluctantly followed Catherine out of the waiting room, down two flights of stairs to the main floor and into the cafeteria. There were a few other people in here, some of them staring hopelessly out of windows, some of them supporting puffy, red eyes. Some of them talking with patients who were hooked to a wheel chair.

"Greg?" asked Catherine, spotting the younger man sitting at a lunch table.

"Oh hey!" he waved them over and they both seated themselves.

"What're you doing here?" Catherine asked.

"Hmmm? I'm here to see how Sara is doin' " he said simply, "You guys aren't the only one's who care about her you know."

Catherine smiled at him, "Yeah we know."

Grissom peered at Greg; he knew the young lab rat fancied Sara to a degree. Grissom had always been jealous of the way Greg seemed to be able to talk to Sara without fighting with her. And how Sara treated him with her full personality, instead of hiding half of it in the shadows. He knew being the boss required him to take a step back from his team, yet he could help but observe each of them from afar.

"So I was just gonna order…" Greg turned to look at the large boards with the menus above the counter. Catherine did the same.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Nope, it's my night off. What about you?" Greg's eyes raked down the words written in chalk.

"Same here."

"What about Lindsey?"

"Her grandmothers dropping her off to see her 'Aunt Sara' then we're both going to head home for some sleep" Catherine pulled out her wallet and Greg followed her to the counter. Grissom watched as they both talked, he found it funny the way people used everyday chit chat to fill up their time. He knew Catherine wouldn't let it go if he just sat there, so he pulled himself up from his seat and followed her and Greg to the end of the line. His mind once again wondering over to Sara.

* * *

"Common Grissom pick up!" Nick cursed hitting his phone over the dashboard. Warrick steadied the car, trying to see out through the splattering of the rain and the furious movements of the windscreen wipers.

"Hey Nicky this rain is getting pretty bad" Warrick said squinting.

"We can't stop; we have to get to the hospital!" Nick threw his phone down onto his lap, "Are you sure your phone doesn't work?"

"An old woman's fury isn't a nice one."

"Oh yeah" Nick apologized.

"So you wanna explain what this is all about? And _properly _this time? All you found was a dead body, which you called Ecklie to cover" Warrick said.

"Well you remember we found Sara under that convertible, if that's what you'd call it after it hit a tree?"

Warrick nodded.

"Well we already knew Lurie had another getaway vehicle, a motorbike to be more specific-"

"Wait, so you think that motorbike you found over by the blockage is the one Lurie had?" Warrick asked, "Well, I get that but what does that dead man you found have to do with all this?"

"I read his ID and his name is Mr. Bearly, his name tag had been ripped off."

Warrick's eyes widened and Nick was sure he could feel the speed of the car increase slightly, "You mean- But Brass sent that guy to drop off some papers at Sara's hospital!"

"Which means he's led him right to Sara…"

* * *

"Looks like a storm" Greg muttered, nodding toward the direction of the window. Catherine and Grissom looked up from their meals and out to the rain. It was pouring by the bucket load, lightening flashing and rumbling in the sky. Catherine shrugged and went back to her calamari. Grissom however continued to stare, his eyes traveled to the entrance of the hospital which was just down the hall to the cafeteria. The large glass doors gave him a wide view of the outside weather, and it didn't look pretty.

A man in a cop uniform walked in from the rain, he looked strangely familiar to Grissom somehow. But there was a cap pulled down low over his face, obscuring half of it. The man walked up to the receptionist desk and talked with the woman there. He stayed like that while she appeared to be searching for someone on the system; the man looked around, spotted him staring and quickly turned his gaze back to the woman behind the desk. She said a few words, he handed her his bundle of papers, thanked her and then proceeded down the hallway away from the cafeteria and up the stairs slowly. Grissom shook his head.

"Griss? What's wrong?" Catherine asked, sensing his unease.

"Oh nothing, I just-"

"What are Nick and Warrick doing here?" Greg asked suddenly pointing toward the glass doors. It was true the two men were hurrying out of the rain, slipping and sliding across the road in their hurry. They both spotted their coworkers and hurried over out of breath, the receptionist looking at them like they were madmen.

"Guys you gotta get-"

"Nick what's wrong?" Catherine asked concerned, standing from the table.

"It's Sara" Warrick panted loudly. The whole cafeteria stopped to watch the small grope of people.

"What's wrong?" Grissom demanded joining Catherine.

"Lurie-"

And suddenly everything inside Grissom's brain clicked…

* * *

Lurie hurried out of his car, slammed his door shut and strode out of the large car park. He quickly approached 'Redferd Hospital' jogging into the entrance so as not to get too wet.

"Damn rain!" he cursed under his breath, approaching the receptionist. The familiar smell of the hospital hitting him as soon as he crossed the threshold, sometimes it was this smell that made him sick.

"How may I help you?" the woman behind the desk asked kindly.

"Oh I'm looking for a person by the name of Sara Sidle" he said politely adding an edge of sadness to his tone, "I just heard she was in a terrible accident and I came as soon as I could. Family always have to stick together, you know."

The woman nodded sympathetically, "Just you wait one moment and we'll find her for you we will."

'_Idiot' _Lurie thought trying not to laugh, _'She hasn't watched the news lately.'_

Suddenly Lurie could feel someone's eyes on him, it was a burning suspicion he always had even when he wasn't on the run. He turned pretending to get a look at the place, and spotted _him_.

'_That damn man' _Lurie thought angrily, _'Oh well, in a few moments everything will all be over anyway. Then he'll be sorry he ever came.'_

Lurie quickly turned back to the receptionist as she spoke.

"Yes the doctor has it here that she just woke up and is ready for some visitors" she said, "She's just been transferred to room 321. Just up three flights of those stairs to your right there."

Lurie nodded, "Thank you so much. Oh, and these were sent here for some other patient by my boss."

He handed over the papers, the woman looked confused, "I'll look after these for you, I'm sure you're eager to see Miss. Sidle?"

"Thank you once again"

"You're welcome sir."

Lurie turned away and begun the climb up the stairs, he moved slowly avoiding suspicion. If he had it his way he would have run all the way up, but doctors and nurses stalked the corridors all over this place. Finally he reached the third floor without being stopped once, this hall was literally empty. Doors lined the two walls either side of him, he glanced at their numbers as he passed.

'_319' _he counted, _'320, 321 here we are, time to pay her a visit.'_

He opened the door without hesitation and walked into the small dark room beyond. Sara was lying propped up on her bed, staring out at the storm. Her breathing was slow; various machines hooked up to her skin were beeping and buzzing up at him. He knew all of it off by heart. Sara turned as she heard the door opening, her eyes about to pop out of her head as she saw who it was.

"You! What're you doing here?" she shrieked, "Where's Grissom? What do you want?"

"I'm here to give you your one way trip to heaven" he said darkly pulling out the small pocket knife he carried on him. Sara whimpered, and he grinned down at her pushing the door until it clicked shut behind him.

* * *

**TBC…**

**A:N/ For the seventeenth time, thank you to all the reviews guys, they're all great. I think this is my longest chapter yet, well my fingers can feel it! Have fun reading!**

**Sarah**


	18. Goodbye My Lover

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Eighteen:- Goodbye My Lover **

Sara's eyes grew wide as she saw the knife flash in her direction.

"Please" she whimpered, "Please, don't."

Lurie laughed, "You think I care about you? No Sara, I don't give a damn!"

"But _why_ me!"

"Why you?" Lurie paused, his eyes thoughtful, "Because you look so much like her-"

"But I'm not Debbie Marlin!" Sara tried to screamed her voice cracking, "You killed her remember, you didn't even give it a second thought! What did me _or _Grissom ever do to you, to deserve this?!"

Lurie shook his head, "I can see her in you. Sara you have her spirit and her energy, that's what I loved about her."

"I get that" Sara said shakily, "But what has Grissom have to do with this?"

"He reminds me, of me" Lurie said simply, "I want to hurt him, because I was hurt to. He's just like me."

"No, he's not" Sara said quietly, "He's so much more."

Lurie nodded, "He may be, but think about what he'll become without you. Just like me and Debbie."

"It doesn't have to be like that" Sara said, "You have a choice Vincent, you can either kill me right here right now. Or you can walk out of here and get away, perhaps you can do both. But whatever you do, you have a decision to make. Just don't forget it will come back to haunt you."

'_Ill come back to haunt you' _she thought sourly, _'Where is Grissom?'_

Sara was weak; she knew if he wished it he could simply kill her in a manner of seconds. Her feeble body couldn't handle anymore; even now she had to stop herself from moaning in pain as the machines around her beeped and buzzed. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Lurie turn back toward her, a hint of regret glistening his eyes.

"I'm sorry but I must" he whispered, "Forgive me?"

Sara never got the chance to reply, the small blade flashed through the air. Sara saw it move in slow motion, its gleaming surface reflecting the moonlight outside the window. Sara felt something hard jolt into her stomach and all the breath was driven from her body. She was surprised to find herself make a small chocking noise, she looked down. It started as a small red oval, outlining the blade still sticking out of her stomach, but the bloodstain increased in shape staining the white gown she wore. It climbed outward circular in shape, until it consumed her entire torso.

Lurie had no emotion in his eyes as he withdrew the knife slickly. He stood over her bent form; every limb of hers was shaking with the reality of what had happened. As he swung to stab her in the heart, the doors behind him were flung open. To Sara it looked like the gates of heaven, all she could see were bright lights. Somebody grabbed Lurie's blade hand from behind, bringing it back and away from Sara...

* * *

'_Please' _Grissom prayed running down the hallway of the third floor, _'Please be alright!'_

The others weren't far behind him as they bolted down the white corridor. Doctors and other visitors hurried out of their way, afraid of being trampled to death. It was Nick who first reached Sara's room, without waiting he flung open the door. Grissom saw his eyes widen and Nick rushed in yelling behind him. Grissom's heart literally sunk into his boots, he was sure he could feel it.

"No you don't!" Nick roared tackling Lurie from behind and taking control of the arm with the knife. He struggled to hold it away from Sara as Vincent brought it crashing down. Warrick hurried in followed by Greg. They saw Sara on the bed lying back struggling for air, and Nick struggling with Lurie. Their eyes grew wide and they rushed to Nick's aid. The blade was a mere two inches from Sara's chest when it was roughly pulled away, Nick pulling back to throw a punch at Vincent. Nick, Warrick and Greg all tackled Lurie to the floor; the man was six feet for a reason after all.

Grissom was oblivious to this all along; his eyes were glued to Sara as soon as he entered the room. She was thrashing and jolting on the hospital bed, gasping for breath which was not coming easily.

"Sara!" he screamed. Jumping over the struggling bodies on the floor he reached Sara and took her hands in his. She fought him, throwing her arms out and in a single movement taking out all the tubes and wires attached to her. Majority of the machinery crashed to the floor, creating all the noise in the world. But Grissom was in his own world as he reached out for Sara, taking her in his arms. Grissom saw the stab mark as she thrashed to the side, his eyes about to pop out of his head.

"Sara!" Grissom sobbed, "Please!"

Sara's mouth was frothed around the edges with blood, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. Her body shaking so violently Grissom's blood ran cold with fright. He brought her sweaty forehead to his, cupping her face in his hands. Willing her to look him straight in the eye.

"Sara, please" he begged, "Stay with me, stay with me!"

"Gil" she said breathless, literally, "I-…I love you."

"No" he whispered, tears streaming down his face, "Don't, please. This isn't goodbye, never say goodbye, please!"

Sara managed to smile softly, ignoring her pain for just this moment, "No matter what" she said clearly her hand on his cheek, "I'll always be with you, and I'll never, never stop loving you Gil Grissom."

Nick, Warrick, and Greg had finally knocked Lurie out. The man now lay on the floor, battered and bruised, just as he had left Sara. Catherine stood in the doorway, a sad and helpless expression on her face as she witnessed the scene between Sara and Grissom. She looked like she was going to cry as Nick, Warrick and Greg saw her.

"What's wrong Cath-" Warrick begun. But he was cut short when Nick elbowed him in the ribs and pointed to Sara in Grissom's arms. She wasn't breathing now, her mouth open only a few centimeters, her whole being shaking.

"No" Grissom cried quietly, "Please I love you so much!"

Sara smiled at his words, that was exactly what she needed to send her to peace. To Grissom the world suddenly grew very small and devoid of hope as he watched Sara's eyes dull. The spark of life which had always been there suddenly grew dim, like a candle being snuffed out. It dulled, then disappeared so suddenly Grissom was sure it wasn't there to begin with. Her last breath left her body with a huff of wind. Her shoulders sagged and her head tiled back so her lifeless eyes were staring up and out the high window, where the full moon reflected in her eyes. Grissom couldn't believe what he was seeing, the woman he loved was dieing in his arms, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

The others were watching their mouths open in horror, helpless and shocked expressions on their faces. How could Sara give up so easily? She couldn't die, she just couldn't!

They all watched on as Sara's body slumped in Grissom's arms, becoming still…too still.

"No" Catherine breathed, choking on her tears. Nick's bottom lip trembled as he let his tears flow, Warrick had to lean on a piece of machinery, his eyes glued to Sara, unable to believe what had just happened. Everything moved in slow motion, deathly silence. Greg covered his face in his hands, crying his eyes out with silent sobs.

Catherine was shaking so violently she almost fell over, "HELP!" she screamed out of the doorway, "SOMEONE HELP!"

Several doctors were rushing down the hallway toward her pleas. Grissom knew they were too late, he was crying now. Crying for dear life, he nuzzled his face into Sara's exposed neck. Bringing her head up to face him, those dim chocolate eyes stared back at him. And he knew they would be back to hunt him. Gently he brought up a hand and shut them slowly, his own eyes closing and praying for her to wake up again.

He cradled her limp form as the doctors rushed in. But all he could do was open his eyes and say one final goodbye to his Sara Sidle.

"I love you…"

* * *

**TBC…**

**A/N: This isn't over! **


	19. Breathe Me

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Nineteen- Breathe Me**

**To my readers: - I didn't say at the beginning of this story that this was CD, so chill. The reason this chapter is up so soon is because I felt really guilty leaving it in the wind like that. Sorry guys! But I think you'll like this chapter. **

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"Sir you have to let her go!"

"No!"

"Sir please!" yelled a doctor trying to pry away the lady in his arms. Even with half a dozen doctors and eight nurses in the room, Grissom clung onto her tightly his mind working in a daze. He was vaguely aware of seeing a nurse drag Lurie's body out of the room.

"Sir please. We might be able to help her!" shouted the head doctor desperately. Grissom's eyes popped open. A chance to save her, he peered up at all of the silent faces. _They _actually wanted to help her? Wasnt it was a doctor who had taken Sara's life in the first place! But, if there was a chance…

"Please" he whispered, "Save her."

The doctors nearest him gently took her limp form, so the other nurses could shoo Grissom out of the room with the others. He lay her back down, and without wasting any more time they worked as one closing up the wound on her stomach. Even hooking her up onto a life support machine.

"If you want to watch the procedure, please wait over in that room" said the nurse politely once they had settled down outside.

The team nodded and turned to the other door, right next to Sara's room. They hadn't even noticed it in their rush. But the room beyond was small. It had one of those one way windows, so Grissom could see what was happening, but the people inside the room couldn't see him.

Catherine sobbed as she saw Sara lying on the bed peacefully, the doctors frantically working around her. Nick leaned on Warrick unable to look. Greg was perched on a chair, eyes squeezed shut and hands held out in prayer. Grissom walked up to the window, placing his hand on the cold glass.

"Wake up" he begged, "Please Sara, wake up!"

Sara's eyes remained shut as the doctors, with their masks pulled low over their faces tried to stop the bleeding.

"She's gone into cardiac arrhythmia" said a doctor loudly near Sara's head.

"Alright" said a doctor by the far corner of the room, "I'm bringing the defibrillater."

He was standing by a large metal box, his eyes glancing anxiously at his patient on the bed.

"Charged"

The man brought the two sensor pads hooked up to the box over by Sara. The other doctors watched as he brought them down onto her chest. Sara's body roughly jolted up feet off the bed. The life support machine remained at the same level, one long _beep! _emitting.

"Again"

The doctor charged it up, then brought it back to her chest. Once more Sara's body shook violently. But the screen on the life support machine stayed the same, one single line.

"No" Grissom breathed.

"One last time"

One last time the doctor brought the pads down on her chest, her body jumping. But nothing changed, nothing happened. The loud beeping of the life support machine was the only sound to fill both rooms, a reminder that one more person in this world was dead. The head doctor sighed with defeat.

"Time of death, 2:31 am"

Grissom and the others stared wide eyed as Sara's death time was announced. For Grissom everything moved in slow motion, Catherine's hands flying to her face as she ran to Warrick her sobs making her tremble. Nick falling to his knees, eyes blank and unbelieving. Greg sitting on the chair his mouth hanging open, hands on his forehead staring at a single spot on the floor. The doctors inside the hospital room, moving to put everything away.

Grissom could see his world slowly crumbling away, his heart breaking into a million pieces. He couldn't believe what had just happened. How could Sara have died? She wasn't dead! The thought just seemed too silly to even think about. But she lay there, pale and dead.

'_I'm too late' _Grissom realized, _'Why was I so foolish? Why did this have to happen?'_

He was too stunned to move, to do anything. If he could he would have died himself from a heart attack. Just as he was about to collapse and give up breathing something happened…

Sara's whole body jerked and her eyes flew open, she sat up that fast it was the only movement Grissom could register as normal. The staff around her stood still with surprise, shocked at what had just happened. Then everything turned into madness as doctors shouted over at each other stabling Sara Sidle's condition.

"Sara?" Warrick asked, bringing everyone out of their daze. Catherine, Nick and Greg looked up and their faces very suddenly became happy. Grissom couldn't believe it. Things were moving too fast for him…

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"Her condition is stable, but she will need some time to recover from everything" the doctor said hours later to the large group in front of him, "So, for now only one at a time with the visitors, okay?"

"Gil, you should go in first" Catherine said quickly, "Go on! She'll be wondering where you are."

She nudged Grissom, and he shot up from his chair glancing at the others.

"Griss, take your time" Nick said as everybody got up, "We're all gonna go home and refresh, then come back and visit before shift."

Grissom nodded barley paying any attention to them. He walked away before any of them left and straight into Sara's new room. She was hooked up to all sorts of machines which kept beeping at him. He looked over at Sara, she was in a deep sleep it seemed, it scared him that she looked so pale and still. They were giving her bloods, and there was a machine which kept feeding her liquids, she was too weak to eat. Grissom wasn't shocked to find out she had had internal bleeding and they had to do some surgery to fix her up properly.

Grissom sighed sadly and sat in the chair next to her bed. He took her hand which was lying above the blanket. It was so cold! He kissed it and begun to cry. He didn't know why, or how crying could possibly solve any of his problems but it helped.

"Hey Sara" he said softly, "You gave us a scare back there. Don't you ever do that to me again!"

Her eyes remained shut, her chest rising and falling in deep breaths. This was the only indication Grissom had to know that she was actually alive, besides the machine in the corner repeating her heart rhythm. Other than that a person off the street would have believed her to be a corpse at first glance.

"I was so scared!" he continued shakily, "Scared of losing you. Scared of what _he _might do. I'm so sorry I let him hurt you, but I swear nobody will ever touch you again Sara, I wouldn't be able to live anymore if something happened. I guess I'm to blame for this happening in the first place. If I hadn't been so distant, If I hadn't hurt you like I did then maybe things would have been different? But I promise Sara, no more waiting I've had enough and I don't care about anything anymore…except you."

He hung his head.

"I love you" he confessed. It was funny to hear, he had never really told anyone he had 'loved them', well not like he loved Sara anyway.

His eyes shot over to Sara's hand in his, her slender fingers curling around his hand slightly.

"Sara?" he asked, hoping she was awake, "Are you awake?"

She didn't move or speak, but her fingers moved more, squeezing his hand.

"That's my Sara" he said, standing up and leaning over to kiss her. He brushed away the hair on her face and stroked her hand.

Through her sleepy haze, Sara Sidle managed to smile…

**TBC…**

**A/N: See told you she wouldn't die! Well, I didn't **_**actually **_**say that but you know I kinda gave clues. Anyway thanks for all your ****kind ****reviews, next chapter will be up soon!**

**Sarah**

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	20. Breaking Dawn

**CSI: Crime Scene Investigation**

**Fallen Butterfly**

**Chapter Twenty- Breaking Dawn**

The first thing Sara saw as she cracked open her eye, was Grissom. He sat, in a chair pushed close to her bed. His eyes were closed and his head leaning on one hand. The other hand however was wrapped around hers, refusing to let go. She tried to sit up, but found something was stopping her. Confused she squeezed Grissom's hand for him to wake up. He jolted out of his light slumber, his eyes traveling quickly down to Sara. His hand withdrew as he got up. A bit disappointed at the loss of contact Sara did her best to hide her discomfort.

"What-" she tried to speak but her voice caught up in her throat.

"Shhh" Grissom soothed, bending down and sweeping away the hair from her eyes, "Don't try to speak, they've had you on a high dosage of medication for the last couple of days, so you might feel a little bit of pain."

She nodded.

Grissom smiled down at her, "It's good to see you awake, I was getting pretty worried."

Sara looked straight into his eyes, trying to relay her message to him. Grissom always the tender one of the two, spotted the confusion in her eyes and nodded to her.

"You're in the hospital, you have been for almost a week now" he explained, "Lurie hurt you really badly, do you remember?"

Sara nodded, blinking.

He hung his hand, "We almost lost you. I was...scared."

Sara could sense the hurt in his voice, and if she saw what ly in his big, deep blue eyes she was sure her heart would have broken. Slowly, due to the heaviness of her hand, she reached out and took his hand in hers. He sniffed and with shock she realised he was crying. She tried to speak once more, to tell him that everything was alright, everything was fine now. But once again she winced in pain.

"Sara honey, please dont strain yourself" Grissom whispered. He brought his head up, and Sara saw the dark lines under his eyes. She brought her hand up to his face and traced those lines with her finger.

"I couldn't sleep" he said softly, "Too worried."

He captured her hand and kissed it, marveling at how soft it was. Sara shivered.

"Sara, just before you, well...you told me you loved me" he said gently looking her straight in the eyes, "And i've realised that, I love you to."

Sara's heart melted, just to hear those words come from his mouth made the pain fade away for a few moments.

"I don't want to wait anymore, anything could happen and life is just too short to keep dancing around each other" he gave her a smile, "I love you, i want to be with you and i swear i wont let anything ever happen to you."

Sara nodded, and Grissom could tell she was extremely happy. He lent down and gave her a long and lingering kiss, one they would never forget. A few moments passed and Sara was forced to break away to draw air again. Grissom grinned.

"Try to get some more rest, I'll be here when you wake up" he said nuzzling his nose against hers, "For now you have to heal"

"Hey girl, how you doing?" Warrick asked a couple of weeks later, walking into Sara's large hospital room.

She smiled up at her visitors from the bed, "Never better."

"That's good" Nick said stooping down to kiss her on the forehead, "Where's Griss?"

"Oh, he's just gone to the bathroom" Sara shrugged.

Nick and Warrick seated themselves in chairs, Catherine slumped on the end of her bed. The room was full of bright light, many flowers lay in their vases, Sara loved these. They reminded her that no matter what you were you could survive. Just like her encounter with Lurie, which, she was trying to push as far from her mind as possible. With Girssom's help the task had suddenly become much easier.

"So, when are they going to let you out?!" Catherine complained giving her a hug, "It's just been me and the boys lately, and that sucks! We girls need to kick _some_ ass together!"

"Well, you girls can kick ass all you want" Nick said smartly, "But I'm too hungry right now!"

He brought out a couple of bags, laden with wrapped up food, "Subway anyone?"

"Nick you truly are 'dependable'" Catherine said proudly as he handed round the food.

Warrick snorted before taking a large bite out of his subway.

"Here ya go" Nick said carefully handing Sara her covered roll, "No cheese, chicken, olives, mayonnaise, tomato and lettuce just like you have it."

"Thanks Nicky" Sara grinned, taking her food and unwrapping it.

"And here's yours Cath, with a hint of spice"

"I love mine spicy" Catherine said, "How did you know, Nick?"

Nick smiled, "I'm not just _dependable_ now am I?"

Catherine smiled and shook her head.

"Oh yeah guys, I think I know why the doctor kept me in here longer than I should have been" Sara said.

"Why?" Nick asked, juice rolling down his chin from the food.

"You know all that take-way you guys snuck me behind Grissom and the doctors back?"

"Yeah" Catherine smiled, "Oh don't tell me, they found out?!"

Sara nodded, "It was when Warrick came over and brought me the Chinese. Well, we both fell asleep and when he left, he forgot the containers!"

Warrick laughed, "Sorry girl"

"Hey, don't worry about it" Sara said giving him a small shove, "Me and Catherine will just find a way to pay you back."

Warrick looked worriedly over at Catherine, "Now that's something I'll just _have _to look out for."

"Oh shut up!"

Nick pointed his spoon at Warrick, "Don't you drag me down into this."

"Knowing Warrick, Nick he will find a way" Sara grinned, "By the way how'd you guys get here so fast?"

Catherine pointed out the window, "Sun's up Sidle, that mean's shift is over."

"Oh, yeah. I've been away from work for too long!"

It was at that moment that Grissom chose to walk into the room, stopping in his tracks as he spotted his friends, "Oh, hey everyone."

"Hey Griss" the three of them chorused.

He looked around at all the food they were eating, "I knew you were sneaking junk food to Sara!" he exclaimed, "You know it isn't good for you?"

"Yeah but why not, it tastes good!" Catherine was the first to finish her meal. She scrunched up her wrapper and aimed a shot at the bin, letting the paper sail straight through and into it.

Grissom shook his head and slumped down in the only available chair left. He sat there listening and looking at them all eating and finally couldn't stand it, the smell of the food was getting to him.

"Alright where's mine?!"

Nick smirked, "In the bag Shakespeare."

Grissom ignored his nickname and reached over digging into the bag and fishing out his roll.

"So Sar, when _are _you coming back to work?" Catherine asked, lying down lazily on the bed.

Grissom made a small noise in the back of his throat to get their attention, "I just spoke with the doctor, he said your well enough to go home this afternoon. You just have to sign a few papers before you leave."

Sara's face brightened with happiness, "This afternoon?"

"Yep"

"Thank God!"

**One Month Later**

"Hey Sar, its good to have you back at work" Nick said, giving the brunette a big hug, "Catherine's been on my ass 24-7."

Sara laughed, "It's good to be back Nicky."

"Well, its Griss's night off, but he paired me with you. So, when you're ready I'll meet you at the car" he smiled and headed patting her on the back.

Sara sighed and headed toward the lockers. She was greeted by a lot of the staff and their condolences. Many of them were grateful to see her alive and well (especially the men), but some like Ecklie and Hodges nodded in her direction and walked on. She didnt expect nothing less from them though. She was relieved to finally make her way to her destination after having stopped thirty times already, David catching her at the doorway.

"I'll catch up with you later" she shouted to him, backing into the locker room.

"Look who it is!" exclaimed someone behind her, their hands landing on her shoulders.

Sara let out a muffled scream, her eyes growing wide. She smirked as she turned and saw Catherine.

"Hey Sara" Catherine said, giving her a tight hug, "I am _so _glad your finally back. It's been too dull without you."

"Thanks Cath"

"We'll go out for lunch later and talk about- well, you know" Catherine gave her a knowing wink, patted her on the back and disappeared back into the lab. Leaving Sara to blush furiously.

"Hey Sara!" Greg greeted cheerfully from behind his locker, "Your back!"

He ran over and almost choked her in his hug.

"Alright Greg, do you want me to be back that hospital" she choked, "Cause i don't!"

"Oh sorry" he apologized, letting go of her, "So how's everything been?"

"With the healing? Aright I guess, still have a few busiesand scars but I'm alive."

"Well that's good, about the improvement, but I meant...you know…" Greg raised his eyebrows.

"I know what?"

"Things with you and Grissom, I mean he _has_ been taking care of you since you left hospital. How has everything been?" he said grinning.

"Everything has been great; he's really begun to understand me."

Greg rolled his eyes, "Sara stop playing around, you know what I mean. Have either of you-"

"No!"

"Not even-"

"Don't you dare think like that!"

"But Sar-"

"No!"

"Oh come on!"

"No Greg!"

Greg huffed like a defeated five year old, "But I mean something _must _have happened between you two. Are you sure, not even in the teensiest bit?"

Sara shook her head and smiled, "Nope, nothing that I can recall. Everything has returned to normal in my life."

Greg sighed and gave up, "If you're sure"

He shuffled out of the room.

'_That guy gives up too easily' _Sara thought, _'I can't wait for shift to end. Maybe I'm a bit too eager, considering what's waiting for me at home.'_

Sara smiled, slammed her locker closed and pushed all thoughts out of her head as she prepared for another day at work…

She left work as soon as she could, eager to get home. The others were surprised at this. Sara Sidle normally was the last of them to leave, but they all had a hunch at this sudden change of routine. She drove home, breaking her car's limits and in the end feeling sorry for it as she made it home in record time. She got out, shut her car door, locked it and made her way to the house her car was parked at.

She smiled as she rang the doorbell.

"Fancy seeing you here" said a familiar voice as the door opened.

Sara grinned, "Well, I just can't seem to get enough of you"

Grissom's face broke into a rare boyish smirk, "Come here you"

He opened his arms wide and she flew into them snuggling up against his chest, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. Grissom grinned as he thought of all the things they would be doing tonight. Still tightly attached to Sara he swung them around in his arms, and into his house not once letting go as his hand slipped under her shirt. He kicked the door shut behind them and left it to swing to a close. Both of them were hardly aware of the black car pulled over just outside their driveway…

"Well what do ya know?" Nick asked from the back seat of the Tahoe.

"Nothing right now, I'm speechless" Warrick murmured from the passenger's seat, "And horrified."

"I'm so happy for them!" Catherine squealed beside him, "They both deserve this."

"Well, at least they've pulled their heads out of their as-"

"Alright" Catherine said loudly, "We get the point."

"Poor Greg, be sure not to tell him we just saw our boss and best friend making out on a front doorstep" Nick smirked, "We should have got that on tape."

"Lets get out of here, we look like a bunch of stalkers" Warrick said uneasily, glancing around at the neighborhood.

"Right on" Nick agreed, "Well at least we know now."

Catherine shook her head and shifted the car into gear, smoothly driving back down the street, "So where are we heading boys?"

"I don't know, I feel like a bit of dancing" Nick said, "You know get down and jiggy!"

Warrick looked at him weirdly, "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't know"

"You know what, Nick might be right" Catherine said turning the car down another lane, "After everything that's happened we need to relieve our stress. Drinks anyone?"

"Well, I'm up for that" Warrick agreed.

"Alright then let's go"

Catherine was hardly listening to Nick and Warrick as they begun to chat. Instead, her eyes traveled up to look at the sky as they waited by a pair of deserted traffic lights. The first rays of dawn were beginning to split through the sky. And far, far above them Catherine spotted the last glimmering star in the sky. It flickered repeatedly, trying not to be snuffed out by the sun. Then suddenly, it faded from view like a dead candle.

She smiled to herself.

'_Too late' _she told the sky as it broke dawn; '_we saved her…' _

She looked back toward the burning red sun as it rose from the horizon; it was such an angry red, angry perhaps because it had lost something? She grinned to herself as their car began to move once again through the busy streets of Las Vegas…

**THE END**

**A/N: Well thanks to all my readers, and an even bigger thanks to all reviewers. This story was great to write, hope you all enjoyed it! I would have made it longer but things got in the way.**

**Well, gotta get back to writing my own book! **

**Sarah**


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